A Rumor of Peace
by AcaciaroseWyngate
Summary: While working a case on Aquaria to capture and arrest the Smuggler-Drug-Human Trafficking dealer known as Tom Riddle, Harry and Roark Peverell Potter hear a rumor that the Cylons have offered Peace to the President, and the Council of the Twelve.


BATTLESTAR GALACTICA

PART ONE

[Company name]

[Company address]

BATTLESTAR GALICTICA

DURIN FAMILY

ADMIRAL ROARK: Retired from active duty due to injury; Head of Colonial Counter Intelligence Unit

SIRESS GABRIELLA: Dead 1ST MARRIAGE

THEIR CHILDREN

DACIAN 45 LT. COMMANDER

GABRIEL 45 LT. COLONEL

KALE KILLED IN ACTION 43 MAJOR

ALEXEI 41 MAJOR

RAPHAEL 39 MAJOR

SEBASTIEN 37 DOCTOR-MAJOR

ETHAN 35 HEALER-CAPTAIN

DESMOND 33 CAPTAIN

ROHAN 33 CAPTAIN

DYLAN 33 LIEUTENANT

PAYTON 31 LIEUTENANT

COLTEN 28 LIEUTENANT

DAMIEN 26 LIEUTENANT

LOGAN 23 LIEUTENANT

CHRISTOPHER 23 SERGEANT

ROARK 17 LIEUTENANT

COMMANDER RAIDEN: Killed in action

SIRESS KIARA: Dead

THEIR CHILDREN

AIDEN 41 LT. COLONEL

ALYSIA 38 COLONEL

TYLER 35 MAJOR

LUCIAN Dead 30 CAPTAIN

SCHYLER 28 DOCTOR-CAPTAIN

DANTE 25 LIEUTENANT

KADEN 23 FLIGHT SERGEANT

LT. COMMAMDER KENDRIC: Killed in action

SIRESS SHATORIA: Dead

THEIR CHILDREN

ROARK 43 LT. COMMANDER

JORDAN 41 COLONEL

GREYSON Dead 39 LT. COLONEL

TAYLOR 36 MAJOR

CHRISTIAN Dead 36 MAJOR

GWYDION 33 CAPTAIN

JADEN 30 LIEUTENANT

JARED 30 LIEUTENANT

KALISTA Dead 27 SERGEANT

ACADIA Dead 24 SERGEANT

COMMANDER THORIN

SIRE BILBO

THEIR CHILDREN

FILI 25 CAPTAIN

KILI 20 LIEUTENANT

THE POTTER FAMILY

COMMANDER JAMES POTTER Murdered

SIRESS LILY ADAMA-POTTER Murdered

THEIR CHILDREN

HADRIAN {HARRY} 21 LIEUTENANT

ROARK ADOPTED 17 LIEUTENANT

THE STRANTON FAMILY

ADRIENE Dead 38 COLONEL

OLYMPIA Dead 35 LT. COLONEL

ALEXANDER 33 MAJOR

ROBERT {ROBIN} 31 DOCTOR-MAJOR

NICHOLAS 28 CAPTAIN

JACEN 25 LIEUTENANT

RYDER 23 FLIGHT SERGEANT

THE ADAMA FAMILY

COMMANDER JACOB ADAMA

SIRESS ILA

THEIR CHILDREN

LILY 39

APOLLO 35 CAPTAIN

ATHENA 31 LIEUTENANT

ZAC 28 LIEUTENANT

COLONIAL COUNTER INTELLIGENCE UNIT

C.C.I.U.

DACIAN GABRIEL

PAYTON ETHAN

GRYFFIN COLLEN KILLED IN ACTION

DANTE TRENTYN KILLED IN ACTION

TAYLOR JADEN

TREY LUCIEN KILLED IN ACTION

BRENTYN KILLED IN ACTION NICHOLAS

ALEXEI DESMOND

SEBASTIEN ROBIN

DAMIEN PERCIVAL {PERCY}

KANE CHRISTIAN KILLED IN ACTION

GREYSON KILLED IN ACTION THANE KILLED IN ACTION

AIDAN KADEN

FILI KILI

LOGAN SEVERUS

HADRIAN {HARRY} ROARK {RORY]

CAMERON LYNDAN

ROARK RHIAN

ROHAN GARETH KILLED IN ACTION

GWYDION MORGAN

CHRISTOPHER JARED

RAPHAEL SCHYLER

JACEN THERON KILLED IN ACTION

RYDER DYLAN

ALEXANDER SEVERIN KILLED IN ACTION

COLTEN JUSTYN

HUNTER CAELYN

STORM DEON KILLED IN ACTION

BLAZE KILLED IN ACTION TIMOTHY KILLED IN ACTION

BRANDT KILLED IN ACTION MAVERICK

TALON RIDGE

JULIAN KILLED IN ACTION LUCAS KILLED IN ACTION

LEANDER KILLED IN ACTION SIMON

TYLER JORDAN

ASHER KILLED IN ACTION TYREL KILLED IN ACTION

BENNENT KILLED IN ACTION THADDEUS KILLED IN ACTION

QUINN VALIN KILLED IN ACTION

ZANDER HOLDEN KILLED IN ACTION

TATE ARTHUR

LYSANDER BYRON KILLED IN ACTION

BENJAMIN KILLED IN ACTION BRODY

NEAL KILLED IN ACTION JADREK KILLED IN ACTION

MALAK KILLED IN ACTION KASEM

SYLVESTER KAREM

RHYS LYDARIAN KILLED IN ACTION

JACOB HOLT KILLED IN ACTION

JOSHUA BRADY

CONNOR WESLEY KILLED IN ACTION

ADARIUS KILLED IN ACTION BAYLIN KILLED IN ATION

SAMUEL KILLED IN ACTION WILLIAM {BILL}

RAFAEL SHAUN KILLED IN ACTION

MAXIMILLION KILLED IN ACTION RILEY KILLED IN ACTION

MARCUS NATHAN KILLED IN ACTION

KYLER CHARLES {CHARLIE}

KENDRICK KILLED IN ACTION LUCIEN KILLED IN ACTION

KIERAN GIDEON KILLED IN ACTION

ALISANDER PADRIAC KILLED IN ACTION

SORRELL AARON KILLED IN ACTION

TEAGAN KILLED IN ACTION RONALD

SHANE ZANE KILLED IN ACTION

NOAH KILLED IN ACTION MARC KILLRD IN ACTION

CAREY FREDERIK {FRED}

AUBREY GEORGE

BRETT KILLED IN ACTION DECLAN

BROOK KILLED IN ACTION COREY

CHRYSANDER DEVON

AFTER THE ANNIHILATION

DACIAN GABRIEL

PAYTON ETHAN

NICHOLAS DAMIEN

ALEXEI DESMOND

SEBASTIEN ROBIN

AIDAN KADEN

CAMERON JARED

SEVERUS MORGAN

ROARK JORDAN

ROARK {RORY} RODOLPHUS

HADRIEN {Harry} RABASTAN

JACEN KILI

RAPHAEL SCHYLER

RYDER LOGAN

COLTEN DANTE

ROHAN DYLAN

CHRISTOPHER FILI

HUNTER ALEXANDER

TAYLOR JADEN

TYLER GWYDION

TREY PERCIVAL {PERCY}

KANE LYNDAN

RHIAN JUSTYN

CAELYN STORM

TALON MAVERICK

RIDGE SIMON

QUINN ZANDER

TATE LYSANDER

ARTHUR SYLVESTER

BRODY RHYS

JACOB KASEM

BRADY KAREM

JOSHUA CONNOR

WILLIAM {BILL} CHARLES {CHARLIE}

RAFAEL MARCUS

KYLER KIERAN

ALISANDER SORRELL

SHANE RONALD {RON}

GEORGE FREDERIK {FRED}

CAREY AUBREY

DECLAN COREY

DEVON CHRYSANDER

BATTLESTAR PLACEMENT

GALACTICA

COMMANDER THORIN DURIN

LT. COMMANDER DACIAN {SECOND IN COMMAND}

DACIAN GABRIEL

PAYTON ETHAN

NICHOLAS DAMIEN

ALEXEI DESMOND

SEBASTIEN ROBIN

AIDEN KADEN

SEVERUS MORGAN

ROARK {RORY} RODOLPHUS

HADRIAN {HARRY} RABASTAN

JACEN KILI

RAPHAEL SCHYLER

RYDER LOGAN

ROHAN DYLAN

CHRISTOPHER FILI

WILLIAM {BILL} CHARLES {CHARLIE}

SOLARIA

COMMANDER ROARK DURIN

LT. COMMANDER JORDAN DURIN {SECOND IN COMMAND}

CAMERON JARED

COLTEN DANTE

HUNTER ALEXANDER

TAYLOR JADEN

TYLER GWYDION

TREY PERCIVAL {PERCY}

KANE LYNDAN

RHIAN JUSTYN

TALON MAVERICK

CAELYN STORM

RIDGE SIMON

QUINN ZANDER

TATE LYSANDER

ACROPOLIS

COMMANDER: JACOB ADAMA

COLONEL DOMINIC TIGH {SECOND IN COMMAND}

ARTHUR SYLVESTER

BRODY RHYS

JACOB KASEM

BRADY KAREM

JOSHUA CONNOR

RAFAEL MARCUS

KYLER KIERAN

ALISANDER SORRELL

SHANE RONALD {RON}

GEORGE FREDERIK {FRED}

CAREY AUBREY

DECLAN COREY

DEVON CHRYSANDER

THE BATTLESTARS

ATLANTIA LEO

PACIFICA PISCIA

TRITON VIRGON

ACROPOLIS ARIES

COLUMBIA CANCER

PEGASUS LIBRA

SOLORIA SAGGITARA

GALACTICA CAPRICA

ORION TAURA

GEMARIA GEMIN

AQUARION AQUARIA

SCORPIUS SCORPIA

COLONIAL RANKS

CADET

FLIGHT SERGEANT

SERGEANT

LIEUTENANT

CAPTAIN

MAJOR

LT. COLONEL

COLONEL

LT. COMMANDER

COMMANDER

ADMIRAL

TIME

MICRON SECOND

CENTON MINUTE

CENTAR HOUR

SECTON WEEK

SECTAR MONTH

YAREN YEAR

PLANETS

ARIES

LEO

SAGGITARA

TAURA

VIRGON

CAPRICA

GEMIN

LIBRA

AQUARIA

CANCER

SCORPIA

PISCIA

SECTORS

ALPHA

BETA

DELTA

EPSILON

GAMMA

OMEGA

THETA

ZETA

PSYCHIC GIFTS

Only those that come from the Original Families of Kobol have these gifts. Most have died out completely. There may be more, but only these two families are known to have survived.

DURIN

LESTRANGE

RECEPTIVE EMPATHY: The ability to sense and feel any and all emotion around them

Many of the Durin Family

Roark Durin Potter-Lestrange

Rodolphus Lestrange

Rabastan Lestrange

PROJECTIVE EMPATHY: The ability to send one's emotions and feelings unto another.

Several Members of the Durin Family

Roark Durin Potter-Lestrange

Rodolphus Lestrange

Rabastan Lestrange

RECEPTIVE TELEPATHY: The ability to hear what others are thinking or saying in their minds.

Several Members of the Durin Family

Roark Durin Potter-Lestrange

Rodolphus Lestrange

Rabastan Lestrange

PROJECTIVE TELEPATHY: The ability to send what one is thinking or saying privately to another.

Several Members of the Durin Family

Roark Durin Potter-Lestrange

Rodolphus Lestrange

Rabastan Lestrange

TELEKINESIS: The ability to move things with one's mind.

Roark Durin Potter-Lestrange

CLAIRVOYANCE: The ability to perceive things and events in one's past, present, and future.

Roark Durin Potter-Lestrange

Dylan Durin

Kili Durin

PSYCHOMETRY: The ability to discover facts about an event or person by touching an inanimate object belonging to or associated with that person.

Roark Durin Potter-Lestrange

Dylan Durin

Kili Durin

PREMONITION: The strong feeling that something is about to happen. Usually bad. Future and present.

Roark Durin Potter-Lestrange

Dylan Durin

Kili Durin

PART ONE

He hit the entry buzzer, then quickly straightened the beige uniform shirt tucked into matching beige pants, with a dark brown jacket and a weapons belt around his waist, the holster tied with a thin leather strap around his right thigh to anchor it into place. He then ran his fingers through his dark, thick hair, slightly longer then what was regulation, as the ends curled at the collar of his uniform jacket.

He even attempted to calm his racing heart, but THAT was to be a lost cause, especially after the deep, slightly muffled voice called out, "Enter."

He stepped forward, the pressurized door sliding open with a hiss. He entered the large, brightly lit office, his combat boots making no sound as he crossed the carpeted floor toward the large, dark oak desk that sat before a wall of floor to ceiling windows, a stunning view of Caprica Bay behind them.

He halted before the desk, saluting sharply to the three men. One was sitting, the other two standing to the left and right of the seated man, each leaning lightly with a hip against the edge of each corner. The three men looked identical in black flight shirts tucked into black pants, and scarlet jackets. All three men were dark haired, cut short to their heads, though the one sitting in the leather chair had hair slightly longer with strands of grey interspersed with the midnight hair. The seated man had dark, forest green eyes. The elder of the two sons also had eyes of deep forest green, while his twin had eyes of bright blue.

"Lt. Roark Potter reporting as ordered, Sir," he said, noticing two files on the immaculate desk, both of them open. One was probably his, he thought, the other…he had no idea and- A barely smothered chuckle sounded, drawing his attention back to the three, seeing a smile on the man to the left.

"Gabriel, behave," the seated man said in a slightly reproving tone, though he too had a smile on his face. "Relax, Roark. Have a seat. Dac, get Roark a cup of tea. Have you had anything to eat yet today?"

He blinked, a questioning look entering his eyes. "I…don't understand," he said, looking from the Admiral, to Gabriel, then to Dacian, who'd moved to the sideboard. "Major Raphael ended our training class early to say I'd been ordered to report to you. I thought it was official, so I came right away, and no sir," he went on quickly, seeing the dark brow raise, "I had something at six hundred this morning, but nothing since. I haven't had time to eat yet."

"We made it an order because we needed it to look as official as was possible," Admiral Roark Durin, patriarch of the current Durin hoard said with a warm smile. "Dac, call down and get him some lunch as well would you son? He has to be getting hungry."

Roark's stomach chose that exact moment to rumble, alerting them all that he was, indeed, hungry. The three Durin's chuckled as Roark's face flushed. "Sorry, Sir," he said, though he didn't look a bit contrite.

"Of course, Dad," he said. "And don't be sorry, Rory. Eating as early as you did you're bound to get hungry at this time."

"Just in case," Gabriel spoke up right then, picking up from where his father had left off moments ago, "someone was watching our movements. It is, however, far more personal."

"Personal?" he asked, his head tilting as he took a seat in one of the chairs before the desk, taking the steaming mug of tea and sipping immediately, eyes slipping closed with a deep sigh of appreciation as Dacian next reached for the com pad. "Thank you, Dacian, perfect as always. Why personal, Gabe?" he asked, eyes opening as his head turned to look at him.

"Raph has informed us that you and Harry have received your orders to report to Aquaria in a few days," he said with a smile.

He nodded. "Yes, we have, but I would have thought Kale would have told...you..." he saw them look at each other, then back at him. "What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

"He didn't say anything to us." Gabriel said.

Surprise flared in bright silver eyes. "That's odd." he murmured, a frown beginning to curve his forehead. "The last time I spoke to Logan and Kili they said that Kale had asked that Harry and I be assigned to them. They also said that they'd received a copy of our report about what had happened on Virgon. Logan said, after they'd read it, they'd all decided that we'd be able to help them with their current investigation."

"So you could, Rory." Gabriel said with a smile, moving around the desk to take a seat in the chair beside him. "What happened on Virgon was unprecedented, and unexpected."

Roark gave a snort of derision. "You think?"

All three men blinked at his slightly sarcastic tone. "You did a good job there, Rory." Dacian said in a slightly worried tone, for he'd never heard such a tone from this young man before. "Better than good, really. I'm not sure anyone could have done what you ended up having to do. You took a bad situation that went worse on you and turned it around."

"Well, of COURSE I did," he snapped. "What choice did I have?" he asked them with a shake of his head. "After the entire team except for myself and Harry, including Colonel Bertrum were murdered, the new team they assigned to replace them were, at first, nothing short of a joke. Not one of them knew anything about the case, therefor none of them seemed to know what needed to be done next, let alone how to go about doing it."

"Which you and Harry found to be odd." Came the statement.

"Oh, for Kobol's sake, Gabriel!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Of COURSE we found it ODD! What kind of IDIOT sends a replacement team without telling them a Gods damned thing about the investigation?! They were warriors for Kobols sake! Every one of them in the service a hell of a lot longer than me or Harry had been, and higher ranked as well. Even after reading the files, not a single one of them could seem to decide what needed to be done next. I don't think we've ever been so disgusted in our lives."

"You were given command, even though Harry had been there longer then you, and was ranked higher." Roark said.

"Harry and I had sat down to discuss it after they offered me the position. Harry convinced me I was truthfully the only one who COULD take the command, but I never should have had to."

"No," Gabriel said quietly, blue eyes on his face. "No, you shouldn't have, and Harry I think, underestimates himself a little too much. He could have taken the command just as easily and done just as well. We'll need to work on that. Regardless, there you were, straight out of the Academy, on your first assignment. You're right, Roark, you BOTH were. They SHOULD have known what needed to be done and did it. Yet they didn't. Granted, you graduated at the top of your class, with the highest marks anyone's seen in a good long while, but that certainly didn't mean that you were ready to take command of such a volatile situation."

"No, I wasn't, but -" he paused, giving them a wry grin, looking at Roark, who was sitting back in his chair, fingers forming a peak under his chin, a speculative look in his eyes, then to Dacian, who sat on the corner of his father's desk, watching him with a look just as speculative as his father.

"You and Harry really did do an excellent job there, Roark," he said, his tone of voice proud.

Meeting Dacian's green eyes, Roark was suddenly aware of a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he tensed. "There's something wrong," he breathed, brow knitting in consternation as his head tilted, looking at Admiral Roark to see a look he'd hoped never to see. "Something very bad has happened."

Roark looked at Gabriel, who then looked to his twin, who gave him a nod, then back to his father. He sat forward, hands and arms coming to rest on his desk. "The situation on Aquaria has, if possible, become even more volatile than it was on Virgon," he said in a quiet tone.

"Of COURSE it has. Tom Riddle has never been known to be a very stable, nor a very reasonable man."

"No, that he has not," came from Gabriel.

Roark heard something else in their voices. Looking at each of them, he read the look in all their eyes, recognized it, and drew in a deep, uneven breath of dismay. "Kale?" he breathed. "Logan? Fili? Not KILI?"

A pause, then, very quietly, "No, not Kili, thank Kobol. Kale." Roark answered.

"Ah…damn." he breathed. "How?"

"We don't know. Logan and Kili found him when they went to his apartment. They immediately called for medical aid, called Fili, then us."

"GODS. They must be devastated. Especially Logan," he murmured, lowering his eyes to his now clenched hands. "I know how close all of you are, and Admiral," he paused, looking up at them. "I'm so sorry."

"Thank you, Rory. They are," Roark murmured, "but so far they seem to be holding up well."

"Seem to be being the operative words here."

Dacian and their father nodded as one in agreement to his words. "I'd like to get some of the family to them, of course," Roark said, "but everyone's tied up on assignments, and Gabe, Dacian, Raph, Sky and I can't leave here right now."

"What about Commander Thorin?" he asked quietly. "Can't he go to them?"

They shook their heads. "He wants to, of course," Roark answered, "but he just can't get away right now, either. Too many things yet to do to get the Academy ready for the graduating class."

"The only ones even close to being free are Alexei, Desmond, Payton, Ethan, Sebastien, and Robin. Worse, even WERE they free now, with debriefings, giving their full reports, it could take up to, if not more than a couple of sectons {weeks} to clear them and get them to them."

"Rory, we need your help very badly. Yours and Harry's."

"Of course, Dac. Anything."

"Don't be so quick to agree, Roark," came the chuckled response. "What we are about to ask of you will put you and Harry in even greater danger then you're both already going to be in."

"Gabriel, we're going to be going up against Tom Riddle, the very man who murdered our parents when I was fifteen months old and Harry four, almost killed us, as well as his top Terminators. How much more dangerous can it get?"

A second soft chuckle sounded. "A very good point, Rory."

Roark looked over at Admiral Roark, seeing the amusement in his dark green gaze. "So what is it you want us to do?"

Roark smiled. "After you and Harry gave your reports to the Council of the Twelve, and the President, Dacian, Gabriel, Raph, and I had a separate meeting with President Adar, Commander Adama and Commander Thorin. While none of them were exactly thrilled about our proposal, they did finally agree that this may be our only chance to get at Riddle and bring him down. They signed the orders to see that it gets done."

"Signed what orders to get WHAT done, exactly?"

"To give you sole command of the case against Tom Riddle, and as Harry was already ordered to go to Aquaria with you, he is going to be your second."

A moment of silence as those words sank in, then... "WHAT?!"

All three men smiled at his shocked cry. "You heard me, Roark."

He shook his head. "Of course I heard you, Admiral, but… what about Captain Ardyn?"

"Captain Ardyn has command of the Colonial Detachment there, NOT the case against Riddle. That was solely Kale's, Logan's, Fili's, and Kili's jobs. Ardyn hasn't even been told you've been assigned to Aquaria," that raised a brow. "Only Kale, Logan, Fili, and Kili know, and with Kale dead, they have since been asked to not say anything on who the replacement is going to be."

"If they've been asked to keep silent, then there's something else wrong there," he looked from one to the others, then back. "This isn't an ordinary assignment, is it?"

"No, not any longer," came the expected answer. "The C.C.I.U. has taken over all aspects of this case. Which, by the way, has ALSO not been announced yet."

"To give you the element of surprise. The longer you can keep this from Riddle, the better chance you have of getting a head start against him."

"Exactly. Unfortunately, we haven't got anyone free to send to Aquaria." Dacian said.

"Except you. And Harry."

"Me? Harry? But we're not Colonial Counter Intelligence," he said with a shake of his head.

"No, you're not. Neither are Logan, Fili, or Kili. But you could be. All of you. There's no question the other three will accept-" he broke off at Roark's snort of amusement. It was a family dream to become a part of the C.C.I.U., and they all knew it. "Exactly," Roark went on with a chuckle of his own, "so that leaves you and Harry. We have someone talking to your brother right now, but what about you, Roark? Will you join us?"

"Me?" he asked. "I…Admiral, I'm not...I mean, I don't-" he broke off, shook his head.

"Let me guess," Gabriel said softly, "you don't feel you have the right to be given such an offer? You feel there are others who are older, better, wiser, have been in the service longer then you, and therefor deserve it more."

"THAT was observant," he muttered.

"No, actually, it wasn't. It's written all over your face," Dacian said. "Rory, you and Harry have been best friends with this family for how long?"

A smile. "Ever since I can remember," he answered immediately.

"Exactly. You've also been around the family long enough to know, and too understand why we put the C.C.I.U. together."

"It was because you felt that there was too much corruption. Not just within the Colonial Planetary Governments themselves, but within the Colonial Military Service as well."

"That was, of course, the main reason," Roark spoke up, "but there were other factors involved with our decision as well. You're also aware by now that we don't ask just anyone to join us. We look for certain…qualities in our warriors, certain…skill sets."

"Which obviously means we feel you AND your brother have EXACTLY what we look for in our officers. That you both have the qualities and the skills we need to get the jobs done that we need to be done." Gabriel said with a smile.

"It's the team," he breathed suddenly in disbelief. "You don't think you can trust the investigating team," he looked away from Gabriel, to Dacian, to Admiral Roark, who raised a dark brow at him. "You also don't believe you can trust Ardyn, or the members of his Detachment."

"No." they said together, their tones beyond serious.

"There's a leak, Rory. A major leak, and THAT'S what got Kale killed." Admiral Roark said.

"We don't know where the leak is, or even WHO it is. It's also more than likely that there's more than one."

A snort. "There always is. Frack, we had a grand total of twelve on Virgon by the time all was said and done. Do you think Kale found out who it was, or who THEY were?"

"That is definitely a possibility. At the very least, he was close to finding out his, or their identity."

"Now Logan, Fili, and Kili are there alone, surrounded by enemies they may have no idea are there," he murmured.

"Yes," came the soft answer.

"I don't want to believe it could be Ardyn, Dac. He was my grandfather's Strike Commander before injury forced him to retire from active combat duty, and I know he's friends with the two of you, was friends with Kale, as well as with several of your brothers and cousins." He stood suddenly, moved around the desk to the windows, his mind deeply unsettled…troubled. The thought that Ardyn could, or WOULD be a leak, and therefor kill a friend, or friends, bothering him more than he thought was possible.

He looked out over the ocean, silver eyes watching a bank of black rolling clouds. There was a nasty storm brewing out there over the warm waters of Caprican Bay, and when it finally hit, sooner rather than later by the looks of it, it was going to rock the city. His gaze narrowed on those black clouds, "I just don't want to believe that he could have gone so wrong. That he could turn so far from his duty."

"We don't want to believe it either, and this, Rory, is only one of the reasons why this job is so FUCKING difficult. We don't LIKE to investigate our fellow warriors, but if there's even a HINT that they've gone bad, it's our job to do something about it, hard or not."

"Something very bad is going on over there, Roark, and Ardyn may, or may not be a part of it. That's what we need to find out. We need a fresh perspective, Rory. We need someone who can read between the lines. Someone who isn't afraid to take chances. We need someone who can make the hard choices that are going to have to be made, and finally we need someone who won't let friendship stand in the way of his duty."

Roark's shoulders tensed, and he seemed to flinch a bit at that last statement, but he remained silent, his head bowing. In the distance thunder rumbled, Gabriel looked over at his twin, then to his father as the office began to darken with the approaching storm. Which prompted the automatic lights to come on.

"Just wait, Gabe," he murmured to his son, "let him think about it. What we're asking him to do would make any other warrior run the other way."

There was another snort. "Which is why," Roark said, his head coming up, his eyes opening as lightening flashed across the ever-darkening sky behind him, "there's so few asked to join Counter Intelligence." He turned to see them smile. "Tell me what you need me to do," he said, determination in his voice and eyes, as in the distance, a bright flash of lightening lit the sky, then, a moment later, thunder boomed loudly, followed moments later by the sound of heavy rain beginning to fall, the strong wind pushing it against the windows.

Dacian reached out to press a button. "Raph, we need you and Schyler in Dad's office."

"On our way, big brother."

"He said yes, then?" Schyler asked.

Roark crossed his arms over his chest. "Was there really any doubt that I would?"

The door slid open to admit Major Raphael and Doctor-Captain Schyler Durin, the cousins looking very much alike, except that Raph had blue eyes, and Schyler's were green, Raphael's hair was as dark as his fathers, while Schyler's was as blond as his fathers had been. Raphael turned off the communicator with a warm smile, sliding it into the holder on his belt, taking the tray Schyler passed to him after thanking the man for bringing it up.

"No. I told them you'd say yes," Raph said, moving across the office, his six four, two forty, dark haired, lithe and lean muscled body moving with the grace of the very rare Caprican black panther. He set the tray down on his father's desk, raising a brow at Roark. "Just like I'm sure Harry will tell Uncle Thorin yes. You're sure though?"

"I'm sure, Raph." Rory answered with a smirk, thinking, as he watched him come closer, he wouldn't mind owning one of those cats if one ever became available.

"Kale was killed doing what you're about to take over, Roark." Schyler said, securing the door, then coming forward.

Roark's eyes hardened, grew cold as he looked at each of them. "I know, Sky, and if Ardyn is in ANY way responsible for Kale's death, then he no longer deserves to be in the uniform he's wearing, nor should he be allowed to remain free."

"Let's all sit down." Admiral Roark said. "Roark, come eat something. We have a lot to go over, and not a lot of time to go over it." His office door beeped as the security code deactivated, then slid open to admit his youngest brother, and behind him, Lt. Hadrian Potter. He grinned at him. "Welcome, Thorin. Harry, come have a seat. We were just getting ready to go over the case with Rory as he has something to eat."

Harry came forward quickly to kneel beside his brothers chair, lay a hand to his forearm. "Are you alright?" he asked him softly.

"As alright as I can be given what I've just been told, and what is believed of a man I never thought could or WOULD go bad."

"Agreed, my brother, but IF Ardyn is the leak, and IF he killed Kale, then he needs to be stopped before anyone else we care about is hurt or killed. We have to bring him in, Rory. Admiral," he said as he got to this feet to face him, "very bad business."

Roark nodded as he gave Harry a smile. "Very much so. Why don't you take a seat, Harry. I'm not at all comfortable leaving Logan, Fili, and Kili there on their own any longer then I have too."

"Nor are we," Harry said, his emerald green eyes going cold as he moved to take one of the chairs that Thorin had just pulled up to the desk beside his brother. "Tell us everything we need to know, then tell us what you all would like us to do about it," he said in a calm, steady voice, reaching for one of the covered dishes. "Let's put an end to this before anyone else is hurt. Or killed."

cccVccc

He stood on the tarmac of the spaceport, waiting impatiently for the military shuttle from Caprica to arrive, his hands linked tightly behind his back. His auburn hair was windblown, strands blowing into his eyes. As he waited, he wondered who this Lieutenant was, and why, over Captain Fili, or Lt.'s Logan, Kili, or Tristyn, he had been given command of the Riddle smuggling, drug, and slavery case. His eyes narrowed as the shuttle came in for its landing.

'Well, finally', he thought, 'better late, then not at all.' It was a few microns {seconds} before the door slid open and a young man...He blinked, but nothing had changed. Yes. That was definitely a young man, as he looked to be no older then sixteen, or seventeen.

'He certainly couldn't be much older,' he thought in disbelief, watching as a second young man a couple of years older appear, followed by a third who at least looked old enough to be a Colonial Warrior. A Counter-Intelligence Officer at that, by the looks of that uniform he was wearing. Well, FUCK.

What shocked him the most, however, wasn't so much their age, as the uniform he and the second young man were wearing. Both were in the black flight shirt and pants with the scarlet jacket of the Colonial Counter-Intelligence Unit. He shook his head, thinking he had to be seeing things. These young men COULDN'T be Counter Intelligence. They weren't old enough to even be Colonial Warriors…to survive the first semester, let alone the entire intensive two yahren {year} Academy Viper training program, as well as all the other classes they would be required to take. A complete four yahren {year} military training program. The second young man also looked…familiar, but he couldn't quite place him.

Well, whoever they were they apparently HAD made it through those rigorous yahrens {year}, as well as passed all the required courses. Admiral Roark, he knew from bitter experience, didn't take just anyone into the unit he had built from the ground up with his twin sons, Lt. Commander Dacian, Lt. Colonel Gabriel and his only surviving brother, Commander Thorin Durin.

Slowly, he let his eyes move over the young man, thinking the boy certainly was handsome, and that he fit that uniform very well. Even at this distance, he could tell that his body was lithe, lean, standing maybe five eight, maybe five nine and weighing maybe one ninety. His hair was black, slightly longer then what was regulation, the ends curling against his neck. He could also tell that his eyes were a stunning silver, his nose straight, face angular, with sensual, very kissable lips.

'Wait! What the fuck! Where the hell had THAT thought come from?' He began to mutter a few choice words to himself, but then the young man turned to look directly at him, and when he did, his body refused to listen. 'Damn, the kid is fucking gorgeous,' he thought. Of course the second young man, when Ardyn let his eyes finally move to him, was just as stunningly handsome. He stood five nine, maybe five ten, his body just as lithe, just as lean, weighing near one ninety to two hundred. He too had midnight black hair, but his eyes…Even from this distance, he could see that his eyes were a stunning dark emerald green. Those eyes. He'd seen them before, but it wasn't on a man. It had been a woman. Lily Adama-Potter. The wife of Commander James Potter. Eldest daughter of Commander Jacob Adama. Both had been dead for close to sixteen yahrens {years}, having been murdered by Tom Riddle when their sons Harry had been just short of five and the youngest Roark had been just fifteen sectars {months} old. Riddle had nearly killed the boys as well, but surprise of all surprises, both boys had somehow survived their injuries. Magic, or the care of their doctors and healers being up for debate. Could very well be both.

Both young man began to walk the short distance across the tarmac to where he stood. "Captain Ardyn?" he asked once he reached him, his voice deep.

That voice! He knew that voice! He'd heard it often enough over the com when he'd spoken with Major Kale before his death, Captain Fili, and Lt.'s Logan and Kili Durin. It couldn't be though. Surely, they wouldn't send him here? Send EITHER of them here. Not given just how dangerous this case was.

"Roark?"

He smiled, his silver eyes lighting with amusement as he saluted a superior officer. "Lt. Roark Potter, Colonial Counter-Intelligence. I was almost afraid you wouldn't remember me. I've changed quite a bit since you last saw me. I believe you may remember my brother better."

"Lieutenant Hadrian Potter." He too saluted, then grinned. "How are you, Ardyn?" he asked. "Grandfather asked us to tell you hello as soon as we saw you."

Ardyn could only shake his head in disbelief, still not believing that these young men were his former Commander's grandson's. Looking at him now, looking at BOTH of them, he knew he couldn't allow them to remain on Aquaria. It was just too dangerous for them. If anything happened to EITHER of them, Admiral Roark Durin and Commander Jacob Adama would never be satisfied until those responsible for these boys deaths were found and taken care of.

"No, not changed, Roark, just grown up. You both have. I've heard the two of you talking to Logan, Fili, and Kili over the com when they've called you, or you them. Gods. The last time I saw you, saw either of you was when you were...what? Eight? Nine? And Hadrian, you were…what? Thirteen?"

"Nine," Roark answered, "very nearly ten." He lifted a hand to brush back some hair the wind had just blown into his eyes. "You were transferred here to Aquaria just before Grandfather took me…US to Saggitara."

"And now look at the two of you," he said with a smile. "So why are you both here? To spend your vacation time with Logan, Fili, and Kili before your next assignment?" 'Please say you're here for a vacation. Please,' he thought.

"No. Weren't you told?" he asked. "THIS is my assignment. OUR assignment. We've been sent here to take over command of the Riddle case."

"WHAT?!" he gasped, then, remembering where he was, where THEY were, he looked around, saw several people looking their way. He was frowning deeply when he looked back to Roark as the third man finally joined them.

"They'll take the luggage to our apartments as soon as they get them unloaded. Captain Ardyn? Doctor Major Severus Snape. It was decided that a Healer would be needed," his midnight gaze meet Ardyn's, "just in case…" he said, holding out a hand, which Ardyn took, shook briefly, then released.

"You'd all better come with me. We can discuss this in my office."

"As you wish, but I will need to see Logan, Fili, and Kili as soon as is possible."

"You will. They're likely in the office they're sharing right now," he growled, turning and beginning to move away, thinking to himself that now he definitely had to get them off Aquaria before they had a chance to do any damage to the operation here. "When I find out who's responsible for sending you two here, I'm going to kick his ass from one end of this star system to the other."

Roark tensed, his silver eyes taking on a hard, cool expression as he stared at Ardyn's back. He'd really hoped he wouldn't get this kind of reaction from him. Though surprisingly, it hadn't shocked him as much as he thought it would have, not after hearing what Roark, Thorin, Dacian, Gabriel, Raphael and Schyler had all told him. He looked over at Harry, saw his nod, then to Severus, who was frowning deeply as he watched the retreating back of Captain Ardyn Grenville. He didn't usually go on missions like this, but it had been felt…then decided to send him along, not only to be teacher to some of their more powerful gifts, but as minimal protection for the boys and to be doctor-healer to the team.

"Something is definitely wrong here," he breathed to the Potter brother's, both of whom gave a nod, their eyes having gone cool.

As they followed him, Roark found himself wondering just WHY Ardyn was acting like this when he had to have at least SOME idea of what he'd done since leaving the Academy, curtesy of more than a few of the Durin's, including the now dead Kale. All of whom, he had since learned, were very proud of his accomplishments just as his own family was. Kale, who had been one of his teachers that first yahren {year} he'd been in the Academy, even after he'd left, having been transferred here to Aquaria, had to have spoken to him about just how proud he'd been of all his achievements.

"Then, Captain Ardyn," he began, his tone cool, "you'll be kicking the heads of Colonial Counter-Intelligence."

"What the FUCK are they thinking sending the two of you here?" he growled, shaking his head.

"Probably that someone needed to take charge here, and that I was more than capable of doing it and sent Harry with me as my back up should anything happen to me."

"You're too young. You're BOTH far too young."

"Our age has nothing to do with how well we can do our jobs, Captain." Harry snapped at him. "We're-"

Ardyn held up a hand to silence any further words. "We'll discuss this further in my office, Lieutenant. AFTER I've called Headquarters on Caprica."

"As you wish, Captain," he said in a tightly controlled, nearly cold tone of voice.

"Something is definitely off," Harry breathed to his brother, saw him nod in reply. : He wants us gone. Off Aquaria. And he is determined to see it happen. : he said telepathically to Roark.

: Question is why? : came Severus soft voice into their minds, not wanting to startle him that he was a telepath as well, though they should have been told that already.

: You don't have to be careful, Severus, we know you are a telepath, : Harry looked up at the tall man with a raised brow. : What ELSE do you know? :

A soft chuckle.

cccVccc

"Those are the orders given to us by Admiral Roark, Commander Thorin, Lt. Commander Dacian, Lt. Colonel Gabriel, and Major Raphael, and it is our full intention to carry them out to the fullest of our ability," he said, as he and Harry stood stiffly at attention before the desk, Kenton stood frowning at what he was witnessing near the door. "Whether you like it or not, which is very obvious that you don't, Harry and I are here to stay until Tom Riddle, and those that work for or with him are taken into custody."

"I wouldn't go placing any bets on that were I you—"

"You're NOT me," he interrupted, "and I would."

"As would I," Harry spoke up. "How much would you like to wager, Captain, that we will be staying?"

Kenton had to smile at that. "Now really isn't the time for betting, Harry."

"Sure it is, Ken." He glanced back st him with a wry smile twisting his lips. "He says he wouldn't place a bet on our staying, we're saying we would. Wouldn't you?"

A soft chuckle. "I would at that, brat. The bosses made their orders very clear."

Ardyn frowned at them and went on as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Just yet, Lieutenant. If I have any say in this matter at all, I'll be putting the two of you back on that shuttle before the sun sets."

"Well you don't have any say," he snapped, then added as an afterthought, "Sir."

"Only Headquarters has a say on that, Captain," Harry said a touch sharply, not liking one bit how Roark was being treated, how THEY were being treated, "and as they were the ones to send us, I highly doubt they're going to recall us."

Ardyn looked up from the papers he'd been handed in a sealed envelope, labeled as top secret. He'd found a file in it after opening it. As he looked at the brother's, he heard the strong hint of anger in both of their voices, as well as a good deal of bitterness in Roark's voice. He was about to say something, when his view screen beeped with an incoming call, and once he hit accept, the screen lit up.

"Good afternoon, Captain Ardyn."

"Good afternoon, Major Raphael," he answered in surprise. "I was-"

"Expecting someone else. Yes, I know, but as both Dacian and Gabriel are in a meeting with Admiral Roark, Commander Thorin, and the President, I was asked to take your call. I trust, Captain, that Lieutenant's Hadrian and Roark have arrived with Major Kenton?"

"They have Major, which is why I've called wanting to speak to either the Admiral, the Commander, the Lt. Commander, or the Lt. Colonel."

"Well I'm sorry then. As I said, they're in a meeting with Dad, Uncle Thorin and President Adar. I hope, Ardyn, nothing has happened to either of them. I know quite a few people, all of my family included, who'd be very upset."

"They're fine, Raph," came back with a sigh, "and here in my office."

A smile. "Good. Then what seems to be the problem?"

"The problem is they should have never been sent here in the first place. I'm sure you're aware of our situation here."

"I am." A frown appeared as he answered him, his tone cooling, blue eyes hardening. "We are all VERY aware of the situation there. Our brother, yes, yes, Sky," he turned his head, "I know, do stop poking at me," his attention returned to Ardyn, "and cousin is, after all, dead."

"Then you know just how precarious at best, unstable and dangerous at worst, the situation is here. It's certainly no place for two inexperienced warriors to be. Have them recalled, Raph. Send us someone with a lot more experience to replace Kale."

"Inexperienced?" came Schyler's disbelieving voice, as his face appeared on the screen. "Did you even READ that file we sent you?"

"Obviously he hasn't." Raphael answered. "I'm afraid we can't do that, Captain. There IS no one else. We've read their reports on Virgon, and as we see it, neither of them are nearly as inexperienced as you seem to think they are. It is our belief that they have all the skills necessary to bring down Riddle's organization and see him captured. They worked very well together on Virgon and they will there. You and your people are to assist them in any way they need."

"But Major, I don't think-"

"What you think is irrelevant at this point, Captain Ardyn. Roark and Hadrian will be remaining on Aquaria until the job they were sent there to do is completed. Hello, Harry, Rory. Tell the boys we love them, and that they'd better get in contact with us soon or they will not like the consequences."

Chuckles sounded from them. "We will, Raph," they said together.

The screen went black as the call was ended. Ardyn swore sharply, then looked up at the brothers. They stood stiffly, body's held tensely, and despite the warmth and amusement that had been visible a moment ago, their faces were now cold, Roark's silver eyes burning with a fury he held in check as he looked at him. Harry's emerald gaze wasn't much better.

"Hell, and damnation. What a mess," he said, running fingers through his hair. "Very well," he said with a sigh. "Sit down, both of you."

Harry and Roark looked at each other silently, eyes meeting, holding, neither moving until a throat was cleared. They turned their heads, looking back at Kenton. They had both been considering a refusal until Kenton had cleared his throat to get their attention, and when they had looked back at him, he had given a very slight shake of his head. They sat then resting hands on their knees. They didn't speak, just sat there, regarding Ardyn coolly.

"Look, Rory-"

"He hasn't given you leave to call him by that name, Captain," Harry said in a snappy tone. "Only family and friends can call him Rory."

"I AM your friend, Harry."

"Hadrian. Only friends and family may call me Harry."

"And no, Captain Ardyn, you're not. Our FRIENDS don't pass judgement on us about what we are or are not capable of. Our FRIENDS would accept that neither of us would be in the uniform we are if we couldn't do the job required of it, or us."

Ardyn sighed again. "You're right, of course, and I'm sorry, but we've just lost Kale, and I can't help but be worried that you're both here. Very well then, why don't you tell me why you were sent here?"

"Those papers you've been shuffling through, but not really looking at since I handed them to you, tells you everything you need to know."

Ardyn sat back in his chair, fingers forming a peak under his chin, hazel eyes moving first over Harry's handsome face, then his gaze shifted to Roark's. "I'd just as soon hear it from you, Lieutenant. Reports are fine as far as they go, but the telling is always different then the reading."

"Everything is in those papers, Captain," Harry answered coolly.

"Not everything is ever on paper, Lieutenant Hadrian," he snapped back, his temper beginning to stir.

"As we wrote what is in that file, Captain," a tip of Roark's head to the file on the desk before Ardyn, "it's all there. We left out nothing that was relevant, or, for that matter, irrelevant."

"You are both perilously close to insubordination, Lieutenant Roark. I would advise you to be very careful," he said in a warning tone.

A dark brow rose mockingly. "So report us."

That response earned a chuckle from the man now sitting in a chair not far from the sideboard on the right side of the office, which in turn earned him a glare from Ardyn when he glance over at him. Kenton raised a brow at him but said nothing as Ardyn turned to look back at Harry and Roark. These two were going to shake up the entire Counter-Intelligence Unit, just as he suspected the Admiral had wanted when he recruited them.

"Frack, boys! Stop being so damn difficult," he growled in irritation.

Silver and emerald eyes flared up with fury. "Trust me when I tell you, Captain Ardyn, you have absolutely NO idea just how difficult Harry and I can become should the situation warrants it," Roark snarled.

"Plain and simple, Captain," Harry said, reaching over to lay a hand on Roark's forearm, which made him look over at him, "we were ordered here."

"I'm aware of that, Lieutenant. What I want to know is WHY? What made Headquarters decide to send two of their youngest, brightest warriors in the history of the Academy here?"

"Fine," was snarled angrily. "If you want to waste the time, we'll tell you what you could read. After graduation, I was sent to Virgon for my first assignment."

"I had already been stationed on Virgon, part of the task force to try to put a stop the monopoly of drugs, extortion, and sexual slavery that was going on there. Our Commanding officer was Colonel Bertrum."

Ardyn nodded. "I know him," he said with a nod. "He's a good man. Fair."

A short nod from them both. "Yes, he was." Harry said.

"Was?" came the startled question.

"He's dead. The task force was working on a case of smuggled of drugs, kidnapped children, teenagers, and adults, as well as various other tie in's to and from Virgon, as well as several of the other Colonies, unfortunately for us, it was going nowhere. Knowing that Roark's field of study and expertise at the Academy was tactics and strategy, he was handed the file and told to see what he could do with it. I was told to stay with him, to answer any questions he may have had."

"I read the file over carefully, considered all the information it contained, asked Harry some very specific questions, thought about the answers he gave me, then went back to that file. It didn't take me long to find the patterns, to figure out how he was operating. It took a little bit more time, and investigation, but I finally found out who, how, when, why, and where. I called the team together, told them what I'd discovered, then we put together a plan of action, and went to work on shutting him down. We set traps for the spies, arrested them, then went to work on closing the pleasure houses, the gambling and drug dens, capturing many of the men and women who worked for the main boss. Unfortunately for us, HIM we couldn't touch because he wasn't a citizen of Virgon. He was from Aquaria."

"Tom Riddle."

A stiff nod. "Tom Marvolo Riddle. To make matters worse, we soon began to realize that he wasn't just smuggling and selling humans, and drugs, he had other enterprises. Enterprises that were varied and far larger than we ever could have thought or imagined. You want someone dead? Contact Riddle. For a fee, he'll order one of his Terminator's to take care of your problem. Looking for something special? Tell him what you're looking for, no matter what it is, and, also for a fee, he'll find it for you. Looking to get ahold of a specific drug? Contact Riddle, tell him what you want, and he'll get it for you."

"Yes, we've discovered that here as well. As for his Terminators, he has quite a few under contract. Some we know of, most we don't. His top Terminator we do know. His left-hand man, is a Terminator named Rodolphus Lestrange, then there's the brother, Rabastan…"

Roark nodded. "We know of them. No one has ever been able to identify either of them. Rodolphus will come, do the job he was given, then vanish. He has also been referred to as a Shadow, or Ghost as he seems to move around unseen most of the time. We were also able to find out he often works with his brother, who is it seems, just as elusive as Rodolphus is. He is also married, his wife a Terminator as well, though we have very little to no information on her at this point. I hope to change that. As for Riddle himself, HE is a very busy man. He has a lot of people working for him, some we know of, most we don't. Some are very powerful people in positions of authority, and of power. To make a long story short, about halfway through the investigations, Riddle ordered his Terminators to begin killing the task force, including Colonel Bertrum until me and Harry were the only ones left, and yes, they tried to kill us too. Had a few very close shaves with a couple of his Terminator's.

"They sent in a new team then. Unfortunately no one bothered to tell them anything about the case, therefor none of them seemed to know, or were able to figure out what should be done next, so..." he gave a shrug, "since I'd been the one to come up with any kind of tactics and strategy to take him down, and because we were the only survivors of the original team who knew the investigation inside and out...the only ones who knew what had been done, and what yet NEEDED to be done, the Counter Intelligence team sent in to assist, Captain Rohan Durin, and Lt. Gareth Collinson ordered that I be given full command with Harry working as my second in order to finish the investigation and get what needed to be done, done."

"You don't sound very happy about that decision."

"Well of course I wasn't HAPPY about it. So what if I was the one who came up with the tactics and strategies we were using? So what if I knew the investigation better than anyone else? I was just out of the Academy. I was on my first assignment. I was there to learn, to help as much as I could. I should NEVER have had to take on that kind of responsibility so soon."

"But you did."

"Yes, I did, and as Rohan later pointed out to me, there simply wasn't any one else who COULD do it. It was trial by fire as the saying goes. They, meaning Rohan and Gareth couldn't take over as they were there to assist only, to lend support as was needed. The investigation wasn't Counter Intelligence province, and until it was, they couldn't take command themselves. So, I shut up, and did what I needed too," he shook his head, lips quirking in a half smile. "In the end, Harry and I ended up with a good team, one that accepted my command," a glare was thrown at him, "with no problem."

Ardyn merely raised a brow at his look. "That had to have helped."

"Of course it helped," Harry snapped. "Once we caught the new team up to speed, we went back to work. Within a couple of sectars {month} we had broken the case wide open, arrested several hundred people, took out a few of his Terminator's, and closed down all operations on Virgon."

Ardyn whistled. "Not bad, boys. Not bad AT all." His hands dropped, and he sat forward, arms coming to rest on his desk. "So now you've been sent here. Counter-Intelligence Officers yourselves."

They both gave shrugs. "Admiral Roark, Commander Thorin, Lt. Commander Dacian, and Lt. Colonel Gabriel, all decided that we could handle the job. At Command Center on Caprica, President Adar sat in on the meeting to hear our full reports. After we had been dismissed from duty for that day, there was a separate meeting in which it was decided that the case against Riddle would be turned over to Counter-Intelligence." Harry said, looking at him with cool, considering green eyes.

"As we were currently the only Officer's free, there was little deliberation. As Kale had already requested that Harry and I be assigned to him," he saw the surprise flare in Ardyn's eyes, meaning he hadn't been told about that particular decision. Roark glanced over at Harry, saw his head tilt slightly, he found himself wondering why Kale hadn't seen fit to tell Ardyn about that, or…come to that, about much of anything else by the sounds of it. "With that request in mind, we were given our orders. We were to report here to Aquaria. It was made very clear they wanted Riddle dealt with, and we are here to do just that. Deal with him."

"If Kale couldn't stop him, what makes the two of you think you can?"

"As we don't yet know where Kale's investigation stood, or what he was doing," Harry said softly, "we can't therefor, nor will we speak of him until we do. Which is why we need to speak with Logan, Fili, and Kili. As for closing Riddle down, that's really quite simple, Captain. Riddle and his people made the mistake of underestimating us on Virgon. They won't do that again."

Ardyn raised a brow. "To what end, Lieutenant?"

Roark had to grin at his tone. "He'll overestimate. He'll overcompensate to try to stop us from shutting him down completely. That, Captain, will be his mistake."

"Your overconfidence will be yours," he warned him with a narrow-eyed gaze.

"Overconfidence?" he gave a shrug. "Yes, I suppose that may be a danger, however unlikely. I don't know about how Harry feels at the moment, but I'm far more nervous now then I was on Virgon. There, we were only going against those who worked for him. Here, it's very different. Here, we're not only going after those who work for him, his businesses, and all other sorts of badness he has going on, but we're going to be going after his two top Terminator's, Rodolphus, his brother Rabastan. All three of whom are known to have very twisted, very dangerous mind sets."

Ardyn nodded, and after a few microns {seconds} of consideration, staring at him intently, he reached out to press a button on his com pad.

"Yes, Sir?" came immediately.

"Nidia, please ask Captain Fili, and Lt.'s Logan, Kili, and Tristyn to join us, and tell them to bring everything they have on the Riddle case."

"Captain Fili, and Lt.'s Logan and Kili have left the building, sir, but I'll contact Lt. Tristyn at once."

"Thank you, Nidia."

Roark sat, his body never once relaxing, his cool gaze resting on the man before him after a brief glance at Harry. They watched as he finally began to go through the file spread out on the desk before him. He was tall, Roark thought, standing at close to six feet, his body had a nice build, with just the right amount of muscle in the right places. His hair was auburn that was, like his and Harry's slightly longer than what was regulation. His face oval, clean shaven, and he had hazel eyes.

Was it possible? Roark asked himself. Could Ardyn Grenville possibly be one of the leaks they'd be looking for? Could he really have betrayed the Warrior's Code they all took upon graduation from the Academy, his duty as a warrior? Could he have killed his friend, and a fellow officer? He didn't want to believe he could, or would do such a thing, but after what had happened on Virgon, he knew anything was possible. He looked over at Harry, saw his brother was now looking at him, a dark brow raised. He gave a brief shrug, turned his attention back to Ardyn, his silver eyes still considering him closely.

As if sensing his gaze, Ardyn lifted his head from the papers before him, and hazel eyes meeting silver. The door chimed, then slid open. Twin dark heads turned as the man who had just entered the room approached the desk.

He was, Roark saw as he studied the man closely, knowing that Harry was doing the same and would give him his opinion later, dressed as Ardyn was, standing approximately five ten, perhaps five eleven, his body was thicker, heavier set, his age somewhere in his mid to late thirties. His hair was a light sandy brown, cut close to his head, and his eyes were a deep, dark brown.

He glanced at each of them, and Roark saw the blink of surprise at seeing the black and scarlet uniform on what he so obviously saw as a kid. "They're staying then?" came the growled question.

"Orders from those in command of the C.C.I.U."

"They're all out of their minds. What are they going to be able to do that we and Kale haven't?"

"I guess we'll find out. Lt. Tristyn Callen meet Lieutenant's Roark and Hadrian Potter, Colonial Counter-Intelligence. The third officer sitting over by the door is Major Kenton Warren. He is Hadrian's partner. Roark has been handed complete command of this case, with Hadrian acting as his second. Lieutenant's, this is Lt. Tristyn Callen. He was Kale's third in command."

They stood together, turning to face him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lt. Tristyn." Roark said as he held out a hand. "I hope we can work together."

Tristyn looked at him, at the extended hand, then into his eyes. He knew what Tristyn saw, and recognizing the challenge in those silver eyes, even as he himself saw the hard, uncompromising look in those blue ones.

Tristyn took the hand, shook it once, then withdrew his hand to pass him the thick file folder he held in the other, noticing the anger in the emerald eyes of Lt. Hadrian Potter. "We'll see, Lieutenant," he said in a cool tone. "Though how one as young as you can have the experience needed for this, I will never know."

"Ask Captain Ardyn for the file we brought with us and you'll see exactly why we have all the experience we will need, Lt.," he said just as coolly.

"Is this all you have?" Harry asked after taking the file from his brother, opening it to glance through it before looking up.

"It is. After you've both read through it, we can get the team together to discuss it. Now, Lieutenant's, if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do. Captain Fili, and Lt. Kili are out looking for a witness to several drug related assassinations, and Lt. Logan is following a lead on something else. They should all be back within a couple of centars {hour}."

Without another word, or without giving either of them a chance to say anything else in return, he turned and walked out of the office. They watched him go, before turning to face Ardyn. From his expression, he'd known Lt. Tristyn would behave that way, which infuriated them both to no end. Well, it wasn't anything new for Roark, Harry thought, his anger simmering all over again.

From the moment Roark had entered the Academy, then reported to Virgon for duty, he'd been receiving the same treatment from nearly everyone he had encountered. Except, that is, for a select few. His yahren {year} mates at the Academy for one, and the second team on Virgon. Harry knew the only way such treatment would stop was when Roark proved he was capable of doing the job. Harry just wished he didn't have to.

"Where is our office, Captain?" he asked in a truly frozen tone of voice.

Ardyn turned his head, felt whatever pleasure he'd felt on Tristyn's treatment of Roark flow away at the look in the emerald green eyes that looked back at him in absolute fury, belaying the tone of his voice. He looked over at Roark, saw how his face had closed down, showing no expression at all. Getting to his feet, he moved around the desk. "Listen, Roark-" he began, feeling just how tense he was as soon as he reached him.

"Don't worry about it, Captain," he interrupted before he could say more, not even looking at him as he turned away to head toward the door, "it's not something that hasn't happened before, and, I'm quite sure, it will be happening again. I'll deal with it eventually. I always do. Office?" he asked.

"Down the hall, across the hall from the one Logan, Fili, and Kili are using, but first, I'll take you to the apartments you'll be using so you can freshen up a bit. The sooner we get you all settled, the sooner we get back. I've a lot of work to do."

"As do we, Captain," he told him, standing to the side and lifting a hand. "After you," he said, then the three of the, followed him silently from the office. They would talk later, when they knew there was no chance of them being over heard.

cccVccc

They returned to Aquarian Colonial Headquarters as soon as they'd finished unpacking, each having noticed instantly as they did, that their bags had been very thoroughly searched, just as they had expected them to be, which was why they had left nothing in them for anyone to find. Not yet trusting that their apartments were clear of any listening devices, the three of them spoke as they walked back to Headquarters. Roark expressed the quiet concern, as the door slid open at their approach, as to if it had been on Ardyn's orders, or someone else's. They REALLY needed to talk to Logan, Fili, and KIli, he thought as they entered the dark office set aside for them, Kenton going to the one next door.

Normally, Kenton thought as he entered his own office, he and Harry would have shared that office, but the brothers had already decided they wanted to share so that left Kenton alone for now until they rearranged everyone office wise, which meant he would probably be getting Logan as Fili and Kili would want to share. Kenton suddenly found himself wishing he and his siblings were as close as the Potter brothers, and the Durins were, but then NO-one was as close as the Durin and Potter brothers were.

Harry reached out immediately to touch the light plate beside the door and looked around. The office they had been given was large, especially as Harry and Roark insisted that they share. Kenton had been placed in the office next to theirs, a connecting door on the left side. The room was bare, except for a few basic things. Two desks, both set up in front of the wall to wall window, the shades closed to the heat of the mid-day summer sun. On each desk sat a lamp on the upper left corner, the computer with its keyboard took up the right side of the desks.

There were five chairs before the desks, a small couch against the right wall, a file cabinet directly right and left of each desk, and next to them, a small sideboard that would hold food and drink as soon as they had the time to go to the market to get some supplies. Roark heard the door slid closed behind them as they moved across the office to the desks. Harry, who still had the file, moved to take the one on the left as he went to the one on the right Switching on the lamps, he heard his brother begin to chuckle and turned to look at him with a raised dark brow over curious silver eyes.

"What?" he asked, seeing the amusement in his emerald eyes. "What has you so amused, Harry?"

"I was remembering how, on Virgon, we had to share the office with two others," he answered, pulling out the rather comfortable looking leather chair. "These chairs certainly look more comfortable then the ones we had there."

Roark had to chuckle as he sat in the leather chair that he had pulled out. "Certainly FEELS more comfortable," he said as he pulled it close to the desk. He turned to the computer, switched it on, then turned to his brother as he waited for it to boot, watching him do the same. "We only have the one file so far. How do you want to do this?"

"How about I go shopping while you tackle this?" he stood, picked up the file and carried it to his brothers desk. "I've got a feeling we're both going to want some tea, or coffee once we actually start to work on that."

Roark nodded. "Get some hot chocolate too. Maybe a few snacks and some sandwich makings. Need some credits?"

"Only if you want me to stop at the local bookstore to see if they have any different or new coloring books you love so much."

Roark grinned, pulled out the small leather pouch that contained his gold, silver and bronze credit chips. "You know you want to see if they have anything you don't have of those sci fi thrillers you love to read so much. Get me everything they have as you seem to know what I have and will like better than I do."

Harry chuckled took the credits his brother passed him, adding them to his own leather bag of credits. "Be back soon."

Still chuckling and shaking his head, he pulled the file close to him, opened it and began to read. Page after page, taking notes as he came across things they would need to look into further. Once he reached the last page, he lay the pen he'd been using down, pushing the disbelief that had grown in his mind aside as he turned to the computer and set to work on the files he wanted make.

The door chimed and he glanced up as Harry entered with several grocery bags, and two bags from the local bookstore. "How the hell did you manage to carry all of that?" he asked, getting to his feet and stretching the kinks out of his back from leaning over his desk.

"Very carefully," came his answer as he dropped all of them on the couch. "Got you several coloring books, as well as some new pencils, markers and gel pens. Looks like they have a few colors that are new."

Roark moved to the couch, picking up two of the grocery bags. "I'll look at them at home. Thanks Harry."

Harry hugged him. "I got a feeling you're going to need something to take your mind of things and keep you from overthinking things too much. This is better then you exploding. I know the coloring helps clear your mind as much as it relaxes you. Reading does much the same for me."

"Oh my," Roark gasped as he pulled out several boxes of tea and hot chocolate. "I've not seen any of these flavors before, but they certainly LOOK good." He quickly began to put things away, then made then both a mug of tea, and some sandwiches. "You're not going to like what's in that file, Harry," he said quietly as his brother picked up the file from his desk and moved to his own.

"It's bad then?" he asked, waking his computer from the sleep mode as he drew the file close and opened it.

"Worse." He picked up both steaming mugs and small plates, carried them to their desks, sat Harry's down near his left hand, then returned to his own. "Read it."

Roark sipped from his mug, turning his chair so that he could watch his brother set out a pad of paper, grab a pen, then turn to the file and set to work. After only a few moments, Roark shook his head, a smile beginning to twist his lips. "Hadrian!"

Harry's head jerked up and around in surprise. "What?"

"EAT, brother mine!" he ordered him with a stern look to the forgotten sandwich and chips. He waited until Harry picked half of the sandwich and began to eat. "Thank you," he said as he turned back to his own computer to begin inputting some of his notes.

They worked silently for some time, Roark hearing occasional snorts of disbelief from his brother, then several mumbled swear words. The door chimed again, bringing both their heads up each glancing at the time to see in was almost two hundred. "Come in," Roark called. Then, a moment later, "Logan," he said, standing quickly and moving around the desk as Harry got to his own, moving to meet them halfway and giving each of them a hug. "Fili, Kili. How are you three doing?" he asked in concern, seeing that all three were unnaturally pale, and three pairs of eyes, two blue, one a deep, dark brown, held very sad, tired looks.

"We've been better," Logan answered as he drew free of Harry's hug, "but we're surviving. How about you? Harry, you doing alright?"

"I'm good," he said, waving them to the couch. "Let's sit down, and we can talk."

"I'm doing pretty good. Just put those bags on the floor."

Fili had to chuckle as he picked up one of the bags. "Just couldn't wait could you?"

"Hey, we needed a few supplies anyway, so why not stop," Harry defended them with a chuckle, "Roark's going to need some way to relax and shut down anyway, or he's liable to kill someone."

"Harry," came his warning tone, earning him another amused chuckle. "Tea, chocolate, or coffee?"

"I think tea will be fine for all of us, Rory," Fili said, placing the bags in an empty chair before pulling another around and taking a seat in it as Logan and Kili sat next to each other on the couch. "Oh…hh you have that new cinnamon apple I wanted to try."

Roark gave a chuckle. "Harry picked up all the new ones, and a few other besides that we had not tried because they're only available here." "Requests?" he asked as he glanced at Kili and Logan.

"Cinnamon apple will be fine for us as well, Rory." Kili's dark haired head tilted as he looked closely at Roark, watching him prepare tea for all of them, which he brought to them as soon as they were ready. He frowned deeply as he handed a mug to him. "They gave you a hard time, didn't they?" he asked softly, his dark brown eyes turning worried, as Roark sat down beside Logan.

They all watched as first fury, then the resignation flashed through the brothers eyes before it was completely shut down. All three swore, Logan reaching out to lay a hand on his knee. "I'm sorry, Rory."

"You guys aren't at fault," he said, turning his body, one leg lifting to settle on the couch, his knee touching Logan's as Harry brought them plates with sandwiches and chips, then took the chair across from his brother, picking up the mug left on the tray for him and sipped.

"The only ones at fault are those that keep treating Rory like he's some child playing a game. As if entering the Academy at fourteen could ever be a game. As if the grades he achieved while there could be a game. Over and over they demand he prove himself when he should have to prove nothing," the more he spoke the angrier he got.

"Harry." He glanced at him, then back at Logan and Kili. "I will eventually have to stop proving myself, and when that day comes we will all laugh in their faces and tell them I told you so. Until then…Let them say what they will. We need to talk later, boys."

"We can't talk here?" Logan asked, a blond brow raising when their friends shook their heads.

"No, we can't," Harry answered, looking at each of them, then around the office, before returning his green gaze to theirs. "We need to talk about things that can't be spoken of here yet," he said softly.

"Will you be home later?" Roark asked.

"We can be," Fili said easily. "It's not like we really have anyone to see, or anything important to do once we get off duty."

"Agreed." Logan said with a slight grin. "Usually, once I'm in for the night, I stay in."

"Yeah, us too," Rory said with a shake of his head. "Harry grabs the newest sci fi thriller he found, or cooks the newest and latest recipe he's found, and me? Well, I'm usually coloring or working in our garden with all the ingredients he needs for his cooking. Pathetic, aren't we?"

"Oh, I don't know about that," Kili said with a soft chuckle. "With Uncle Roark, Dad and the cousins? It's usually better to be safe than sorry, not that any of the other cousins are really any better."

Logan gave a snort. "No kidding. The few men we HAVE looked at, or dated for that matter, were never good enough. Hell, the last guy I thought about dating for any length of time went through an inquisition from Kale. He-" he broke off suddenly, his head dropping as Kili slid an arm around Logan's shoulders to draw him back against his side. "Sorry," he murmured, snuggling into Kili's side.

"Don't be, Logan." he said softly, sitting forward to lay a hand on his friend's shoulder, feeling the intense pain and sadness that filled him. Not just him, but Kili and Fili as well. "I understand better then you may think I do. We've all been friends for as long as I can remember, and we've been in all your homes nearly as much as we were in ours, maybe more. Our parents are best friends with yours. Harry and I know how close all of you are, closer than most families, and they've all always been a bit protective, haven't they?"

"A bit?" came from Fili, a wry smile curving his lips. "I know how protective I am, but some of the others are a bit more extreme."

"I think that's a bit of an understatement if ever I heard one. Frack, you two," Logan pointed at him, then Harry, "are not even one of the family, and they protect you with the same fervor they do me and Chris."

Kili gave a snort of his own. "Not just you, Logan, but any of us under twenty-five, fall under their ever watchful eyes."

"Which I thank Kobol for, as Rory would very likely be dead now if Rohan hadn't gone to check up on him when he did when we were stationed on Virgon." Harry shook his head, giving his brother a glare.

"Alright Harry," he said with resignation, "I admit it, I was stupid. There, are you happy now? You, Rohan and Gareth told me to wait. I didn't. I decided to try to confront him alone after I'd found out the information that I did."

"I will never be happy when you place yourself in unnecessary danger," Harry grumbled.

"Well, at least you had the presence of mind to call Rohan before you did." Logan said, pulling free of his cousin to stand and move to the desk. He picked up a pen, found a stray piece of paper, and wrote his knew address and com number down. "I've a few things yet to do before I can head home," he said, turning back to them. "I moved last sectar {month}, so when you two get done here, stop by. We'll have a drink and something to eat. You can tell us what the hell's going on, and how that," he pointed to the uniform the brothers now wore, "happened." He turned and walked out with a smile and a wave.

"He's not handling Kale's death well," Fili said quietly as he got to his feet and stretched. "Not well at all."

"I'm really not surprised by that," he told him as he and Harry rose to their own feet. "You? Ki?"

Kili got to his own feet. "Better then Logan, but still-" a pause, then, "not as well as I'd hoped. I miss him like crazy, Rory," he said softly, feeling an arm slip around him, hug him.

"Of course, you do." Harry said softly. "He was training you, Ki, and being cousins makes it twice as hurtful. I can't even begin to imagine what losing Rory would do to me, and I don't want too."

"Nor would any of us," Fili sighed. "We'll be alright. It's just going to take some time."

Roark nodded. "That reminds me. Did you find your witness?"

"Yes." came grimly from them both.

"Dead?" Harry asked.

They nodded, and they both shook their heads. "That's not really much of a surprise, is it?"

"No, I'd just hoped we'd get to him first. The bastard moves fast when he has too. By the looks of the body, Bellatrix Lestrange got to him. Loves to torture them before she kill them, that one does. Well, we have a couple things to do as well. We'll see you at Logan's later."

He nodded, watching them leave his office. He stared at the closed door, lost in thought. It didn't take him long to realize that Logan, despite Fili and Kili's support, was locked up tight within himself, just as his father, Uncle, and brothers had feared he'd be'

"Rory?" Harry asked worriedly, seeing the blank look in his eyes and not liking it one bit. He reached out, lay a hand on his arm. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he answered, coming back to himself at the sound of his brothers worried question but then he was moving back to his desk, keying a well-known number into his com pad. "Roark?" came the question immediately and sleepily, as his screen lit up.

"Oh, KOBOL, Sebastien, I'm so sorry. I forgot all about the time difference between-"

Sebastien Durin sat up quickly, blankets falling from his naked, lightly furred chest. Hearing a whistle sound in the background of the caller, he grinned. "Why thank you, Harry. Never mind the time difference, Rory. We're doctors. We're used to being woken at all centars {hour} of the night. What's wrong, kiddo?"

"Logan."

A look of intense worry entered his sapphire blue eyes. "It's bad, then?"

"Worse, I think. He's so locked up within himself, he can't even say Kale's name without tearing up, but then he just shut's himself down before they can fall. Fili and Kili seem to be doing a bit better, but they're nearly as closed down as Logan is."

"We were expecting that, Rory," came the second, deeper voice as a handsome face, sandy blond-brown hair sleep mussed, aquamarine eyes just as worried as his husbands, appeared over Sebastien's shoulder. "Harry do please stop ogling my husband."

"Why? He's gorgeous, but then," Harry appeared in the screen, wiggling his brows at them both, "so are you," he went on, earning him deep chuckles from both.

"Harry stop flirting," he ordered his brother even though his eyes were sparkling mischievously. "I know all these Durin boys are gorgeous, and many of their husbands aren't bad either, but really, it's bad form to flirt with the married ones. Go after the ones who aren't."

Laughter. "I do, brother mine."

"Of course you do," then Roark sighed rubbing at his eyes, then his fingers went to his temple's, began to massage in a circular motion. "I know, Robin, but...I think he's investigating something on his own, and I'm not at all sure how to pull him back. The last thing I want to do is send him into a tailspin, and possibly even more destructive behavior. At least with Fili and Kili, they're working together."

"Investigating WHAT alone? And why aren't Fili and Kili helping him?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say he's investigating some of Tom Riddle's Terminators, more specifically, Rodolphus, Rabastan and Bellatrix Lestrange. As for Fili and Kili, I don't think they know what Logan's up too. They've been tracking down a witness they found dead this afternoon. Thanks Harry," he said as his brother set a mug before him, then held out a hand, something obviously in his palm. "Harry…"

"Take them. Please? Your head is about to explode it's hurting you so bad."

They both swore sharply. "Is this line secure, Roark?" Sebastien asked in a serious tone. "And take those pain killers. You need to be able to think clearly, and you can't do that if your head is throbbing as bad as it looks like it is."

"The line is, but the office isn't," seeing the glares from both the Doctor's on his screen, and his brother, Roark sighed again, took the pills from Harry, and downed them with a swig of tea. "Better?" he saw them nod. "Good. Now, what I really need to know is this. How far do you think I'm going to have to push before he'll open up to me? I can't have him investigating the Lestrange's on his own."

"No, you can't, and neither can we," came Sebastien's answer, a frown twisting his forehead. "You may not have to push far at all. I think it'll depend on just how close to the edge he is. Did he move and change his com number."

"Yes," he answered, reaching for the slip of paper Harry handed to him. "Here's his new address and com number, which, by the way," he turned the paper to the screen, watching as Robin reached past his husband for pen and paper, a frown curving his own brow as he wrote, "he hasn't changed in the computer, nor has he told anyone but your cousins where he went."

"Of course, he hasn't," Robin said, looking up. "What about Fili and Kili? Have they moved?"

Roark looked over at Harry who shook his head. "Not that we know of."

"That's surprising. They know something is very wrong, but none of them know where, therefor, they have no idea who they can trust. Rory, Harry, suggest to Fili and Kili that they move to a new place and I think you should both probably think of doing so as well. Until you know who you can trust, I wouldn't trust the apartments they gave you."

"I'll go talk to Kenton. Tell him we need to start looking for new places for the three of us."

"Great, thanks, Harry. That makes sense, Robin." he said with a nod. "Why haven't they called any of you? When I spoke to Chris just before I left Caprica, he said Logan hadn't called him either. Nor has he called your Dad."

"Because Chris and Dad would know the moment they looked at him, at any of them, just how bad they were. If Logan had called him, and he saw just how tightly he's closed himself off, he'd have told us, then we'd all be running off to join him there, orders or no. Logan would have also known that the rest of us would also be abandoning our assignments, and to hell with the consequences, and he'd ALSO know that Dad wouldn't sit quietly by when his baby was hurting so much."

"Missions are important, but family is a priority."

"Exactly so." Robin said. "Do you think you can get him to open up to you, Rory?"

"Probably. I'm going to be seeing them later, after I've finished here."

"Trust your instincts, Rory." Sebastien said quietly. "At the Academy, you always seemed to know when to push, and when not too. How hard, and how far. You could always read people better then you thought you could."

"Sure. I could read so well I didn't see what Mason was up too until it was nearly too late. Not just for me, but Harry and our team."

Sebastien frowned, hearing the bitterness in his voice. "I thought you'd let that go, Roark. Schyler and Ethan would never have cleared you to return to duty if they knew you were still holding on to that."

"I know, and I honestly thought I had," he gave a deep sigh. "I guess there's still a part of it that's still with me, at least on some level."

"You're being too hard on yourself, Rory. Yes, you didn't see what was happening, but then, neither did Rohan."

"Rohan wasn't dating him, Robin. I was."

"As true as that may be, the point is, you did figure out it was Mason who was your leak, and you did what you knew you had too. You learned from that experience, and you won't make the same mistake twice."

"I hope you're right," he murmured, then he smiled. "If Harry were here, he'd be smacking me upside the head you know."

"We are." Sebastien said sternly. "And so he should. You listen to me, Roark Potter. Stop doubting yourself, or your ability to do your job. You wouldn't be where you are, or in the uniform you're in, if any of us believed you couldn't do the job required of you."

Roark smiled. "Yes sir, Major. Sir," he gave him a mocking salute.

A chuckle. "Smart ass. As for my second youngest brother, I think if you can crack that shell he has around himself, you'll find he'll open up and talk to you."

"Agreed, and if at any time, you feel you can't handle him, you call us."

"But your assignment-"

"Can be assigned to someone else."

"Robin, there IS no one else."

"We'd FIND someone." Sebastien said strongly. "Logan's mental and emotional health are far more important given your situation there, then our assignment is here. I'm going to call Ethan in the morning and see what he says. He fixes the mind, while Robin and I fix the body. I'll have him give you a call. Give me your home and com information since your office isn't secure yet."

"Okay," Harry said as he entered the office. "We're all set. Ken said he'd start looking into getting us new apartments close to where Logan is."

"That's great, Harry. We'll also call Dad, Dac, Gabe, Raph, and Uncle Thorin for you. Give them a-heads up." Robin said. "Less stress on you to have to figure out ways to guard your tongues."

Roark sighed deeply, sat back in his chair. "Thanks, guys. Tell them too for me that what we expected to happen, did."

They frowned, looked at each other then back to the screen. "The team?"

"We haven't met with the team yet, just Lt. Tristyn Callen, Kale's third." Harry said as he sat on the arm of his brother's chair. "Not a warm welcome to say the least."

They swore. "We'll tell them."

They nodded. "Here's my home and com information for now," he gave it to them, then said, an intense feeling of sadness suddenly suffusing him. "I don't know why I thought it would be any different, or easier here, then it was at home and on Virgon."

"Rory," Harry turned to him with a worried look.

"You okay, kiddo?"

"Not really. Same old shit, just a different location, Robin."

They both frowned again, not liking one bit what they heard in his voice. "Roark."

"Not here, Sebastien."

"Even him?" came softly.

"Can you say desperate? Raph made it clear we were here to stay. To say he wasn't pleased about it would be an understatement. I just don't know if it's because I'm seventeen and the dead Potter's baby boy, or if it's something else." He sighed. "Well, there's nothing I can do about it right now in any case."

"There's lots we could do," Harry growled.

"Hadrian," came instantly and warningly, "blowing them up is NOT an option, young man." Sebastien looked at him sternly. "For now, do nothing. See if things will work themselves out. Be careful you two. You're going to be pissing off an awful lot of people before this is over."

A smirk. "Riddle and the Lestrange's being the biggest ones."

"Exactly."

"I can hardly wait to get started." Harry said with a sudden manic grin, rubbing his hands together in glee.

"Me neither."

"Of course, you can't." Sebastien said as both he and Robin laughed. "We'll talk to you later, boys. You take care of yourselves, and each other, you hear me?"

A warm smile. "We'll definitely try. I'll see if I can't talk Logan into calling you."

"You do that and tell Fili and Kili they better call us too. We'd like to hear from them."

"We will, Sebastien, Robin," he said as the com screen went black.

cccVccc

They were both deep in concentration when the door chimed for the third time. "Come," he called out distractedly, without turning his head from his computer.

The door slid open. "Roark. Hadrian."

"Captain Ardyn." Harry said as ordered up a series of legal outgoing and incoming shipping lanes, viewing them with a frown and a, "Hum...Rory," his head turned, "I think he's using the dead lanes."

Roark suddenly began to key in a demand, watching his screen fill. "Fu…ck," he breathed, seeing that his brother may just be right. "There's an awful lot of them, Harry."

"Isn't there though? This is going to take a lot of time to figure out which ones he may be using."

A nod. "If not all of them," he said, earning himself a groan from his brother which made him smile.

"It's late, boys."

"Is it? " came coolly, both still refusing to look up at him, though he did see their smirks after a quick glances at the time in the corner of their computer screen. "Ah, so it is. How about that? We hadn't noticed."

"I'm sure you didn't. Do you intend to work all night?"

Roark picked up a pen, made a few notes on a pad of paper he had sitting close to hand. "As long as it takes for us to get answers to some of our questions," he replied. "Harry, I think we should look into some of the dead land routes too."

Harry picked up a pen, pulling his own pad close to write something on it. "I'll begin to look into it tomorrow."

"I'm not going to let you work all night, boys."

"THAT, Captain, is not your call. It's not up to you what either of us do, or don't do, for that matter."

"Look," he began, exasperation in his voice, "there's plenty of time for you to find whatever answers you're both looking for tomorrow."

"Very true, and as it happens, we weren't planning to work much longer. We are, in fact, meeting with Logan, Fili, and Kili at Logan's place as soon as I've finished this. Harry, you done?"

"Will be in one moment," came the answer as he typed.

"Has he told you where his new place is?"

"Of course, why?"

"Because he hasn't told anyone else, other than his cousins, where he moved too, nor has he changed his on-file address in the Base computer."

"I can't imagine why, unless he doesn't trust any of you," he looked up at him, a dark brow raising. "Why wouldn't he trust you, Ardyn? Any of you?"

"Are you going out of your way to be unpleasant, Roark?"

"Not at all. I'm just following your lead," his lips quirked. "Hey Harry, did you notice how he didn't answer my question?"

"Sure did, wonder why that is," he said as he looked at him, a dark brow of his own raised.

"I have no idea why Logan wouldn't trust me. Trust us. You'd have to ask him."

"Don't worry," he said with a cool smile, "We intend to do just that. Now that I think more about it, Fili and Kili didn't seem to trust you very much either."

There was a flash of something in those hazel eyes, which was quickly hidden. Ardyn sighed again, shaking his head. "Roark, listen, I just don't think-"

"Don't!" he snapped harshly, saving, then downloaded all his current work to an external drive, which he then removed from its slot and placed into his jacket pocket, before shutting down his system. Ardyn noticed Harry doing the same, emerald eyes sparkling with anger. "Don't you dare try to make excuses for your behavior earlier," he went on. "The way I was treated by you, and by Lt. Tristyn, is nothing new to me." He stood, putting his notes, as well as the file in order. "I've handled such treatment before, and I'll handle it now."

"Not that he should have too. You'd think people would learn he never would have made it through the Academy, neither of us would if we weren't capable." He put his own external in his jacket pocket, picked up his note pad, before moving to retrieve the bags from the local bookstore. "Ready when you are, little brother."

He picked up the file, moved around the desk, turning off the lamp as he went, then stopped beside Ardyn, raising his eyes to meet the hazel ones. "I just didn't expect to get it from you. You who has known me, known US since we were children. You, of all people, knew what our dreams and our plans for ourselves were. You, we thought, would understand, and despite my age, OUR ages and appearances, accept us." He shrugged, dropped his eyes, and moved to the door, which opened at his approach.

There he paused, but he didn't look back. "You've changed, Ardyn, and as far as I can see, it's not a very good change. This will teach me to never assume anything about anyone ever again. Good night, Captain."

Harry did glance back. "When are you idiots going to learn." He said, then left the office as well, never seeing the look on Ardyn's face, nor hearing him swear sharply.

cccVccc

"They want us to what?!" the three of them gasped in shock at once.

"You heard what I said," came back quietly, looking at each of them as he turned just slightly to his right, resting his arm on the back of the couch he and Logan sat on. Fili and Kili where in matching chairs in either side of the fireplace, and Harry was sitting in the love seat.

"We heard," Fili said, "I'm just not sure I believe it. They actually believe we have a leak on our team?"

"They do, and so do we for that matter, and maybe not just the team. There is definitely more than one, but how many? They and we can't say yet. On Virgon we ended up having a grand total of twelve." Harry said as he looked at them.

They swore. "The Detachment? Ardyn?" Kili asked.

"As much as we all hate to admit it, warriors can be bought, just as much as anyone else can. Come ON, guys, you must have suspected SOMETHING was off? Think about it. Logan, you moved without telling anyone but your cousins you'd done so. You haven't even changed your on-file address in the Base computer."

"Your point, Rory," he said with a shake of his head and a surprised look from his cousins. "There's something very wrong here. I just haven't been able to figure out where it is, and trust me, I've been looking."

"That's good, at least you were AWARE there was something wrong and were looking into it," Harry said. "As for the rest…we'll all figure it out."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Fili asked him.

Again, Logan shook his head. "You two had enough on your plate looking into those killings and trying to find that witness. Besides, I was honestly hoping I was wrong about the whole thing."

"Unfortunately, Logan, you aren't wrong, and after Harry and I read through that file Lt. Tristyn gave us, we KNOW there's something wrong. I'm going to make you boys a bet."

"Oh…hh, a bet. I want in," Harry said already reaching for his wallet, making the others laugh.

"What kind of bet?" Kili asked him warily once they had calmed.

"That after we've read the files the three of you just gave us, matched them up to Lt. Tristyn's file, and after we've asked to see Kale's files and read through THEM, we are going to find a very thorough frame up in place. There are, I'm afraid, already signs of one."

Logan looked over at his cousins, then back at Rory. "We know better than to bet against you on something like that." A flare of fury in his blue eyes. "Signs?"

"Yes," he said with a nod. "We've already found several inconsistencies in the file that Lt. Tristyn gave to me. Then there are more than a few of Kale's orders that, if taken at face value, just don't make any sense. Then we have this," he drew a folded piece of paper out of his jacket pocket, handed it to Logan. "Raph and Sky gave that to me a couple of days before we boarded the shuttle. Said Christopher, Dante and Gwydion have been looking into more than a few of the team's and the Colonial detachment's financial accounts just to see what they could find. They found that."

Logan opened the paper, read it, a frown appearing as he passed it over to Fili. "A secret bank account here on Aquaria?" he watched as Fili read the note and passed it over to his brother, who also read it. "I don't believe it," he snarled angrily, blue eyes turning to meet Rory's silver, then to Harry, meeting his emerald green.

"We don't believe it either."

"It's too obvious," Kili said softly, looking at each of them in turn. "Why frame Kale?"

"Because he's dead, little brother." Fili answered. "He can't defend himself from a frame up if he's dead."

"Exactly so. Whoever killed Kale planned this very well, but they've also made several mistakes."

"I'd sure as hell say so." Logan snapped. "He'd have to have known Dad and the family would never stand for this. That we would defend him."

Rory nodded. "You could." A pause. "But you aren't going too. WE aren't going to."

His fists clenched. "What? Why?" he all but snarled at Rory.

"Logan, THINK," came instantly, and insistently from Harry. "As hard as this is on you, on all THREE of you, you need to think about it from a strategic, and tactical point of view. We don't like it either, but for now, there is no other option."

"Our first reaction would be to go on the defensive," Fili murmured, his blue eyes thoughtful. "We'd take our attention away from the case, start looking for the proof that Kale could, and would NEVER have betrayed the Warriors Code, or his uniform."

"Exactly, Fili. You'd take your attention away from what was really important."

"Riddle. His Terminator's. Who killed Kale?" Kili muttered.

Logan sat forward, picked up his glass, then sat back, sipping from it thoughtfully. "There's also the leaks to think about. Because Dad, Dacian, Uncle Thorin, you and Harry, all want our leak, or leaks, to believe we don't know about them. That they're in the free and clear to continue to work as they have been. Finally, that we do, in fact, believe it was Kale who had gone bad, but…" he shook his head, looked at the Potter brothers, "I see one problem with all of this."

Harry's brow rose at that. "Problem?" he asked.

"Of course, Harry. You've seen it too, as has Rory, but I'll say it anyway. Surely whoever is behind all of this would know that I, that Dad, as well as the rest of the family would NEVER believe this."

"You'd be right about that, and that's why we sat down with Admiral Roark and Commander Thorin when this was first discovered. We had a nice long talk about more than a few things."

"Dad and Uncle Roark would have told you it's all a matter of perception." Kili said thoughtfully, looking over at him to see him smile, then over at Harry who was nodding, then back at Roark. He gave a nod, waiting for him to go on. "If this is played right, we can make anyone believe anything we want them too. We may not LIKE it, but given the circumstances, what real choice do we have?"

"None that I can see." Fili said. "I have a feeling they also told you we were all going to have to do a few things we aren't necessarily going to like but given the case we have; the person we're up against, there's no real choice for any of us."

Roark nodded, watched as all three of their faces paled. "Tom Riddle, nor our leaks, are going to play fair. They're going to do whatever they must to try and stop us from doing our jobs. We won't sink completely to their level, but there WILL be times we'll have to do some things that we won't like, may in fact, hate."

"It's going to be a judgement call." Logan said quietly.

"Yes," Harry answered and watched them nod, accepting what was being left unsaid.

After a few minutes of silence, Rory looked over at Logan. "There's something else," he said, and when his friend wouldn't look at him, he reached over to cover his hand, squeezed. "I know you're investigating something on your own."

"What?" came the double, surprised question. "Logan!" Fili and Kili exclaimed.

Logan looked over at them, then to Rory. "You want me to stop?"

"Yes!" both Fili and Kili cried as one.

"Of course, you need to stop. You know damn well it's too dangerous to be investigating things on your own." Fili said, as Kili was opening his mouth to also comment.

Rory looked over at the two of them. "Hush, both of you," he ordered, then returned his gaze to Logan. "No, not if you're investigating what I think you are. Just not alone anymore. Fili and Kili are right that you should know just how dangerous it is to investigate anything alone, especially on a case such as this one. Your family has just lost Kale, let's not make them," a nod to the brothers, "or me and Harry have to call and tell them they've lost you too."

A nod. "Alright."

"Are you ready to tell us about it?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. Who do you want me to work with?"

Rory turned his head. "Are you two done with what you were working on?"

"Not completely, but we can let it rest for a bit."

"Good, then the three of you get together. Logan, tell them where you are, what you're doing, then the three of you work out a plan. I don't care what you do, just be careful while you're doing it. Clear?"

"Yes sir," they said as one.

"Fine then. Now that we have THAT settled. Logan, when you're ready to share, just let either of us know, we're free any time to listen, okay? No pressure just know we're here for you when you ARE finally ready to discuss it.

He nodded. "I know. So…" he sipped from his glass, "at the same time we're working on bringing Riddle down, we're also going to be investigating not only the team, but Ardyn and the Detachment?"

"Unfortunately, yes. We all know the reason Kale is dead is because of the leak. It's very likely because he found something…something he didn't want or couldn't believe."

"And because he didn't, or couldn't believe it, he decided to confront this person with what he'd found." Kili said.

"That is very likely exactly what happened, Kili." Harry said quietly, reaching for his own glass of wine, sipping. "Of course, we will likely never know for sure."

"But why would he? He knew better than to do something like that. He wouldn't be so stupid as to do that without backup."

"So you would think, Fili."

"So why wouldn't he tell me? Tell us?"

"A couple of reasons. Let's tackle the first. Confronting a leak without backup." He raised a dark brow. "Do you guys remember Mason?"

"Yes, of course we do. But Rory, that was a totally different situation. You were dating Mason when you found out the information you did. You did the right thing to report him to your Counter Intelligence team."

"I know that, but then I was stupid enough to think I could confront him alone, even AFTER Rohan told me to wait for him and Gareth," he shook his head. "I didn't wait, and I very nearly paid the price. I didn't hear the end of it from them, OR Harry for weeks."

"That's because you scared us half to death," Harry grumbled, glaring at his younger brother with glittering emerald eyes.

"So what does that have to do with Kale, a Counter Intelligence Officer not waiting for, or even asking for, now that I think about it, backup?"

"The three of you were his backup, Fili."

"Yeah, so?"

"Now we come to the second reason and probably the most important reason, to him anyway, not to wait or even ask you to back him up. His desire…his NEED to keep you all safe."

"Damn it, Roark! We're all warriors!" Logan barked out in frustration, jumping to his feet and beginning to pace in front of the couch, running an agitated hand through his hair. "Just like you, just like Harry, we were all warned of the risks and the dangers associated with being a Colonial Warrior when we signed up."

"Of course, you were, Logan," he said, reaching out as he passed, capturing his hand, and pulling him back down beside him, "but you've forgotten one very important fact, my friend."

"Which is what, exactly?" he snapped out.

"Like me, you're the youngest, the baby, and yes, I'm including Christopher in that. You are twins, after all. Dacian, Gabriel, Kale and Alexei were more your father's than your brothers as you, Chris, and Damien were six and eight respectively when your father was so critically injured in that attack on Leo. They RAISED you while the Admiral healed and all but learned to walk again." He turned his head. "As for the two of you, your father may still be alive, but think about it, he was posted to the Galactica at the time, so you spent most of your time with Dacian and the others, right?"

They both nodded.

"Now think about this from their point of view." Harry picked up, looking at each of them. "Logically, they know, have even accepted that you're all grown men now, as well as warriors, and damn fine ones at that, but you will always be the ones they helped raise. They just can't help themselves. They'll always want to try to keep you safe, protected, and as unharmed as they possibly can."

Roark saw them nod at his brothers words as he sat forward, reaching for his own glass of wine, sipping from it as he studied their faces. "You suspect, I think, just how upset your family is that none of them were able to get away, or to send anyone else from the family here when Kale died."

Logan nodded, sighing. "I do. It's part of why I haven't called them yet. Any of them. Having Fili and Kili here has helped, but…" he just shook his head.

"We aren't your father, nor your brothers. Why didn't you say something?"

"I couldn't, Fi. I didn't want to hurt either of you, or make you think I didn't need you, or want you."

Kili shook his head. "We would never have thought that, Logan."

"They figured as much, as far as the not calling them goes; which now leads me to my secondary, more personal orders, given to me by your father, Thorin, Dacian, Roark, and Aiden."

"Oh, oh. The Heads of the family," Fili and Kili murmured together, looks of wry amusement in their eyes at the mention of their Uncle, their father, and the three eldest cousins of their large family.

A blonde brow went up as he glanced over at the brothers. "Let me guess," he said wryly, looking back at Roark. "You and Harry are to evaluate our mental and emotional health, and report back to them."

"Yep. Got it in one," he looked over at Fili and Kili, both of whom shrugged, they'd figured that would be their orders. "I spoke to Sebastien and Robin after the three of you left my office this afternoon."

"Why?"

"I think you know very well why, Logan Adrien Durin," he scolded.

"Ohh…full name."

"Rory, I'm-"

"Don't you dare TRY to tell me, tell US that you're fine, Logan," he said sternly, his tone holding a strong warning as he pointed a finger at him. "We know you aren't. You've bound your emotions up so tightly, you can barely hear, let alone SAY Kale's name without breaking down, and make no mistake, Logan, you WILL break if you don't let yourself GO soon. You have GOT to let yourself grieve."

It was a long few microns {seconds} before he stood, moved to the desk that sat before a set of double glass doors, pulled open a drawer, took something out, then returned to the couch to hand to Roark what he had retrieved.

"He was still alive when Kili and I found him," he said quietly as he sat back down. "I pulled THAT," a wave of his hand, "from his chest." Tears filled his eyes, and this time, he didn't even try to stop them from falling. "We pressed towels tight against the wound, but…GODS, there was just SO much blood, and no matter what we did, it just wouldn't STOP. We could tell he wanted to tell us something, but every time he tried, there would be more blood in his mouth," he shook his head, bowed it. "Then he…died," he whispered.

Roark held the blade in his right hand, the hilt in his palm. "This is a very well-made weapon. Light. Well balanced. Easy to throw if it were necessary. The scroll work etched into the blade is exclusive," he said looking at it closely. "It's Kobolian" he breathed, then read what was on the blade to them, "I am to be your death, feel my kiss." He looked up suddenly. "This is one of Rodolphus Lestrange's knives."

"So I discovered when I started asking questions about the knife, and where I might find another like it," then he blinked as what his friend had just read to them hit. "I didn't know you could read ancient Kobolian."

Roark gave a shrug. "Not many do," he said as he passed the blade over to Harry to look at. "Me and Harry were taught it by some of your brothers in what spare time we could manage to find. And you won't. Not unless you can find the weapons master who makes them, and even then, these are made especially FOR Rodolphus, and Rodolphus alone."

"I found the weapons master who makes them for him, but as you probably suspected, he refused to speak to me. He also makes Rabastan's favored weapon, the shuriken."

A nod. "No surprise there. They both probably pay him a fortune to not only make their weapons, but to keep his mouth shut. Harry and I will go see him, see what we can shake from him. Logan," he looked up at him, "Rodolphus Lestrange DID NOT kill Kale."

"How do you know that?"

"Number one, it's not his style." Harry spoke up then, looking up from the blade in his hands. "He moves fast, strikes hard, then disappears. You said Kale was still alive when you and Kili found him," a nod. "If it had indeed been Rodolphus Lestrange, I can guarantee you he would not have been alive when you found him. Also, Rodolphus would never be so careless as to leave one of his blades behind to be found by authorities, any more than Rabastan would leave one of his."

"So… whoever killed Kale was trying to place blame where blame does not belong?"

"Yes, Kili. He's trying to lay a false trail. I don't know how he got ahold of one of Rodolphus' knives, and we may never find that out," Harry leaned forward to place the knife on top of the files they'd given to them upon their arrival. "I hope," he began turning to slide his fingers under his friend's chin to lift his face so that their eyes met, "that you," he glanced over at Kili, "that NEITHER of you, are blaming yourselves?"

Kili shrugged as Logan answered, "Only in that we couldn't do more to help him. Are Sebastien and Robin coming?"

"If I call and tell them I need them, then yes, they'll come," Roark said. "Though truthfully, I think it more likely that it would be Ethan and Payton. As Sebastien said, he and Robin heal the body, Ethan heals the mind."

"There's really no need for you to call them. All I need is some time. Time, and if Rodolphus Lestrange was not the one to kill my brother, to find who did."

"I'm going to make you a promise, Logan. We WILL find who murdered your brother, and when we do, he will be paying the most severe of prices for his crime. Just as Harry and I intend to make Tom Riddle pay for the murder of our parents."

Logan meet his friend's eyes once again, held them, then nodded. "I've also been thinking about asking Schyler and Sebastien about taking some emergency medical courses."

"You know, that wouldn't be a bad idea for any of us in this job, and I made that suggestion to the Admiral. Harry and I each took a semester of emergency medical. Learned lots of very useful stuff. I wanted to see about taking the advanced course, but I ran out of time when I received my orders to report to Virgon."

"So, what do we do next, Rory?"

"Actually Fili, Robin put a bee in my bonnet, so to speak. Logan's moving without telling anyone where was a VERY good idea. It was recommended that we all do the same. Harry has already spoken to Ken. He's looking into new apartments for us not far from here."

"That is probably a good idea given who we suspect is our leak."

"As soon as we all get moved, and Harry and I have had a chance to go through these files; and we've made a beginning on the personal files…Which also reminds me, I have new laptops for all of us. We are to use these only for Counter Intelligence. Chris, Dante, Damien, and Gwydion each had a hand in some of the programs, as well as some of the newer security features they now have."

Snorts of amusement from the three Durin's. "Of COURSE, they did." Fili said. "So, we see if we can clear a few of the team before we get everyone together."

"Yes, that's what we'd like to do," suddenly Rory yawned. "Sorry, it's been a long day already."

"For me too," Harry said with a yawn of his own. "We did, after all, have to get up at the same time this morning. Which I will have you all know was before dawn."

"Lazy," Roark teased his brother.

"You didn't want to get up any more than I did, little brother."

Kili chuckled as he looked at the clock over the mantle of the fireplace. "How the hell did it get so late?" he gasped.

They all looked over at the clock and Rory blinked. "Is it REALLY past midnight?" he asked in surprise.

Logan nodded. "It sure looks that way. Fi, Ki, will you see these two get back to their apartments alright?" he asked, getting to his feet.

"Absolutely, cousin." they answered, getting to their own feet.

"We're big boys, Logan. I'm quite sure Harry and I can find our own ways home." Rory said, then yawned again.

"Perhaps you can, Lieutenant, but it looks to me you're both just about asleep on your feet. Let us take care of you tonight. Hey, by the by…How do we get the cool new uniforms?"

Harry and Roark both laughed. "As a matter of fact, I have a couple for each of you at my place, with orders to make sure you requisition however many you think you'll need. I was also told to make sure you get at least two dress uniforms."

"What?" came their gasp of surprise, "Seriously?"

"Yes boys, seriously. I'm lead. Harry is my second. Fili, you're my third."

"They were that sure, were they?" Kili asked with a chuckle.

"You three they had no doubt of. Me and Harry? We were a bit of a question mark. We figured though, if we were ordered here anyway, and with the news of Kale's death, and that his killer was very likely our leak, as well as a Colonial Warrior…There was no choice for either of us. Besides, Admiral Roark said they wanted it made very clear that Counter Intelligence has officially taken over this case. That reminds me of one other thing. Did Kale ever say anything to any of you about there being an informant on the inside?"

"You mean like someone who was close to Riddle?" Logan asked, and saw him nod. "He did, but he would never tell me who he was. Said it was better if the informant was known only to the five of them. Fi, Ki?"

"We know there's an informant, but not who he is. Like you, he said only he, Dacian, Gabriel, Uncle Roark and Dad know who he is."

"Raphael and Schyler know who he is as well. All Gabe would say was that he was someone well established, and that he was close to Riddle, that he'd been in place for several yahrens {years}."

Soft whistles sounded. "Several yahrens {years}? That's a long time to establish an informant." Kili said.

"Apparently, this was in the works for long before any of us joined the service." Harry said, "If I had a guess, I'd say they began making the plans for this not long after Father and Mother were murdered."

"That's an awful long time for an informant to be in place as well. They would have had to move very slowly, and very carefully to make sure he would be firmly established.."

"No kidding. Riddle is no idiot to have gotten this powerful, or this far without ever getting caught."

"Exactly. Gabe also said the informant would help us where and when he could, but we'd not know who he was unless he chose to reveal himself to us."

Logan nodded. "That would make sense. This is good. Now maybe we can actually get something done."

A hard, uncompromising look entered Roark's eyes. "Prepare yourselves, boys. War is about to be declared against Tom Riddle."

"We're taking him down?"

"Yes Kili, we're going to not only take him down, but we're going to shut down his entire organization."

Grins all around at that as they all said, "Great."

cccVccc

Several days later found Fili, Kili, Harry, Roark and Kenton moved into new apartments near where Logan had his, but Roark still hadn't ordered the team to report to Aquarian Colonial Headquarters for the promised conference. He had smirked when it was mentioned by more than a few, knowing he was irritating everyone who asked because he would simply shrug; especially Ardyn, whom he had snapped at, telling him he would get the team together when he was damn good and ready, and not before.

Neither Harry or Roark cared what the others thought at this point. They were on no time schedule yet and would do things only when they were ready to do them, which would be thoroughly explained when he DID finally call them together. Harry made it clear at that point and in no uncertain terms that they wouldn't be calling everyone together until they had finished compiling their information.

The boys had turned over their files to them at Logan's the night they'd met, and the four of them, when not out in the city, were closeted in their office going through not only those files but had also begun to go through the personal files of the team as well as some of the detachment, working only from the new laptops issued to them by Counter Intelligence, and communicating with Christopher and his team on Caprica via e-mail and instant messaging.

It was on the evening of the seventh day, when the four of them were working in his apartment after an early dinner, that Rory, with a smirking Harry watching him, secretly made a call. The screen lit up almost at once, filled with several faces. "Logan," came softly, instantly from the man directly in the middle of said screen.

"Fili. Kili." Came the second, deeper voice.

Their heads jerked up and around at the sound of those voices, tears instantly filling their eyes at the faces on the screen looking at them with not only a great deal of love but worry. "Daddy." Logan whispered.

"Dad," came from Fili and Kili in whispers as well.

"We wanted…Hell, we still want to come to you, boys."

"We know." Logan said quietly, raising a hand to wipe away a tear, but another soon followed.

"Ah Logan…don't cry, little brother. We're here for you regardless of where we are now."

"I know. It's just been so hard, Raph, but…" he turned his head to smile at his cousins, to Harry and Rory. "Fi, Ki, Harry, and Rory have been a big help these last few days. It's not the same as having my brothers here, of course, but close enough."

"Boys?"

"We're doing alright, Dad." Fili answered.

"But we miss Kale like crazy, Dad." Kili said softly.

"Of course, you do, son. I see you're not in your new uniforms yet. Care to tell us why?"

Kili grinned at that. "We decided to wait until Rory called the team together. The three of us will walk in wearing the new uniforms then."

Roark and Thorin looked at each other, then back at them with VERY pleased smiles. "A show of strength and unity. Good idea, boys."

"That was our thought as well, Dad." Fili said.

"Are you boys eating? Sleeping?" Roark asked worriedly. "You need to keep your strength up and your minds sharp."

"Eating, yes." Logan murmured, "Sleeping? Not so much. Some nights are better than others."

"Nightmares, kiddo?"

"Yes, Lexi."

"You didn't fail him, Logan. Neither of you did. You both do know that, I hope," his father said in a soft voice.

Logan's eyes dropped away.

"Logan, we all read the medical report when it came back. Even had either of you known any emergency medical, there would have been nothing either of you could have done."

Logan raised his head, looked over at Kili, who had the same question in his dark brown eyes. He looked back at the screen. "What do you mean, Desmond?"

"There was poison on the blade, cousin." Schyler answered.

"I don't know, Sky. Maybe if we'd gotten there a bit earlier, found him sooner-"

"Logan Adrien Durin, you stop that right now, young man!" Dacian barked out.

"Ow." Logan turned his head, looking back at not only Harry, who had just slapped him across the back of his head, but Roark too as he had done the same. He then turned blue eyes on his cousins who'd smacked him where they could reach.

"Thank you, Harry, Rory."

"Nicely done boys."

"Our pleasure Gabe, Lex," the four of them said together, each glaring sternly at Logan.

"As for you," Rory went on, looking at Logan sternly, "we've talked about this. It was NOT your fault, and you have really got to stop believing that it was. Kale sent the three of you out that night to follow a couple of leads. He knew the risk he was taking when he decided to confront a leak alone."

"He's right," Desmond said quietly. "Logan, listen to me, to us. Kale's second mistake was in believing that he could handle him, or her, alone. That, boys, is ALWAYS a mistake. It's why we ALWAYS work in teams."

"He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he was trying to protect you."

"We don't need to be protected, damn it!" he snapped sharply.

"No, you don't," came softly from Thorin, "but forgive us if we try anyway."

"Uncle Thorin is right. Old habits die hard, little brother."

"We are trying, Logan, but you and Christopher are our babies. Sometimes we forget you've all grown into men. Men who are perfectly capable of taking care of yourselves."

Logan sat back against the couch sharing a wry amused look with Fili and Kili. "I know, Dac," he said with a sigh, then looked back at the screen. "I love you."

"We love you too," came back immediately from all of them.

"Now then, on to why we are on this conference call," he said with a grin.

"This is just as important as taking care of Riddle is." Roark said with a stern look at his youngest. "The truth now, Logan. Kili, Fili. Are you boys truly alright?"

"We're fine, Uncle Roark." Fili and Kili answered as one.

"But just so you all know, we miss you all like crazy." Kili said. "We've never been away from home this long before, and I find I'm very homesick."

"Yeah, me too." Fili agreed with his brother.

"The feeling is mutual, boys. Logan?"

"I'm…alright, Uncle Thorin, though admittedly, I'd love to have a brother or two here, maybe even another couple of cousins. I know that's not possible, but still…that's how I feel."

"Well now, that's not necessarily true. Desmond and I, as well as Jordan and Tyler have just finished our assignments."

"Lex?" came back immediately, a great deal of hope in his tone.

"We'll be on the next shuttle out," Desmond told them.

Roark sat forward quickly, as did Fili and Kili, all with smiles on their faces. "We'll be glad to have you all here."

Frowns formed on several faces. "Trouble, boys?" Dacian asked worriedly.

A snort. "Where would you like us to begin?" came Harry's wry reply. "And no," here he pouted, "I haven't blown anything up."

"The beginning is always best," Thorin said, turning his head. "Lex, Desmond, go find Jordan and Tyler. I want the four of you on the next shuttle to Aquaria. Use our authority if you have to. I want you on that shuttle. They can fill you in when you get there."

"Will do, Uncle. Rory, Harry, boys, look for us to be there in the morning. One of us will call you with our exact arrival time as soon as we know it."

"We'll be waiting on the tarmac, Lexi. We'll use tomorrow to get the four of you settled and caught up on everything. I'll order the team together for the following morning."

cccVccc

It was on the morning of the ninth day that Roark entered the conference room where the meeting was scheduled to take place. Entering right behind him was Harry, then Kenton, Fili, then Logan and Kili, who were then followed by Alexei, Desmond, Jordan, and Tyler. He saw, but didn't acknowledge the shocked, surprised expressions on nearly all the faces, especially Ardyn's as he rose to his feet, his mouth opening to speak.

Alexei shot him a calm, but stern look, which immediately made Ardyn close his mouth and re-take his seat. "Good morning," Roark spoke as soon as he reached the head of the table. "I'm quite sure you've all been told who we are, but let me introduce us anyway," he stood before his chair, laying the new black leather satchel on the table before him. Harry doing the same on his right, though his satchel was a dark brown.

Fili took a standing position in front of the chair to his immediate left, and Logan on his right next to Harry. Kili moved to the chair beside his brother, while Alexei, then Desmond moved to take chairs beside Logan. Jordan, Tyler and Kenton went immediately to three empty chairs at the other end of the table, pulled them out, then stood waiting, all three throwing smirks at the Potter brothers. The group around them reacted to the seating arrangement of the eight Counter Intelligence Officers now in their presence by looking at them a bit nervously.

"I am Lieutenant Roark Potter, and to my right is Lieutenant Hadrian Potter, Colonial Counter Intelligence. As you can see, Captain Fili, and Lt.'s Logan and Kili Durin have been promoted to Colonial Counter Intelligence as well, as was always intended. The other five Colonial Counter Intelligence Officers are Hadrian's partner, Major Kenton Warren, Major Alexei, Captain Desmond, Colonel Jordan, and finally, Major Tyler Durin. They will be joining this team.

"Now, as we are sure you've heard all the rumors, let me make this perfectly clear. There ARE no rumors, ladies and gentlemen," he looked around the table at them all. "As of two sectars {months} ago this case was handed over to Colonial Counter Intelligence. My orders…OUR orders, now come directly from Admiral Roark, Commander Thorin, Lt. Commander Dacian, Lt. Colonel Gabriel, and Major Raphael Durin," the sound of a throat being cleared. Roark turned his head. "Yes, Alexei?"

"Now it's my turn to make something very clear to all of you," he began in a slightly harsh, cool tone. "This investigation was placed into the hands of Lieutenant Roark for a reason. We four are here to support him, NOT to take over. You will not report to or come TO us with any concerns you may have about this case unless otherwise instructed to do so. We are all aware of how young Lieutenant Roark is, how young Hadrian is, but they have both proven, beyond ANY shadow of a doubt to all of us at Command that they can and WILL do the jobs required of them not just as Colonial Warrior's, but as Counter Intelligence Officer's. If you have a problem working with either of them, I suggest you say so now."

"And what if we do?" came the growled question somewhere near the middle of the table.

"Then," Harry spoke up, his own tone harsh, emerald eyes hard, cold, "you will be removed from this team, Lt. Martine," he smirked at the surprised look in the man's eyes, as he obviously wasn't expecting them to know who they were. "We will soon have more than enough trouble to handle without having to deal with dissension amongst the team as well."

"What, exactly, are our orders, Lieutenant Roark?" asked the man sitting a few chairs away from Tyler.

"Our orders, Lt. Conner, are to take Tom Riddle out, and to shut down his organizational base of operation here on Aquaria."

"Just what makes you think we haven't been trying to do just that, Lieutenant?" was snapped out harshly.

Roark met the challenging gaze of Lt. Tristyn. Without breaking eye contact, he unlocked his satchel, pulled out the file, and tossed it onto the table. "That, Lt. Tristyn, is the file you gave me on Riddle the day I arrived here, is it not?"

"It is," he growled.

"It's good. As far as it goes. These," he drew out a second, then a third and fourth file, throwing them on top of the first, "are the files compiled by Captain Fili, and Lt.'s Logan and Kili. Files that they worked on separate from yours. They too are good, but all of them are incomplete."

"EXTREMELY incomplete," Harry growled, looking around the table to see their shocked looks.

"Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" he demanded, leaning forward on the table to glare down at them.

"It means, Tris," Logan said in a quiet voice, his face serious as he looked down the table to meet his gaze, "that we've found some holes."

A snort sounded from Kili, drawing their gazes to him next. "A lot of rather very LARGE holes," he said wryly

"Holes!" came several shouts.

"What do you mean holes? What kind of holes?"

"Let's all sit down, shall we?" Roark said, taking his seat, then waiting for those who had jumped to their feet in anger, to do the same.

"So, what holes are you talking about?" Tristyn demanded. "Logan, Fili, Kili, you know how hard we worked to put that file together."

"Yes, Tris, we do," Fili answered with a nod, "but we also know, as we've been working with Harry and Roark these last eight days, that they've found things we never thought of, but should have."

"Like what?" came the expected question.

"Riddle has a varied, very large organization. There should be more in those files then there is. A hell of a lot more. That, Lt. Tristyn," Roark waved a hand at the file, "may have satisfied Kale-"

"Why the hell it would is still beyond my understanding," came the deep grumble from Logan's left. "It sure as hell wouldn't have satisfied Dad, or Uncle Thorin. Nor would Dacian, Gabriel, or even Raphael have been happy with what there is in those files. They'd have said get back out there, find more. Look for anything and everything that could be viable."

"Captain Desmond?" came from one of the team further down the table.

Desmond turned his head, his green eyes on the woman, sparkling angrily. "Are you all really that blind? Or are you just that stupid?"

"Now just a centon {minute}!" the shouts of indignation came immediately from the team around the table.

"Alright Desmond, that's enough. Let's not-"

"Not what?" he demanded, sitting forward, his arms coming to rest on the table. "Antagonize them? For Kobol's sake, Roark, they're Colonial Warriors! They have heads on their shoulders to think with, eyes in their heads to see with, ears to hear with, and supposedly they're smart or they wouldn't have been posted here to deal with this in the first place! They HAD to have realized that something was off about this whole operation!"

"He has a point, Rory," Alexei spoke up, looking around the table with his own glare of disapproval.

Roark looked at them, giving each of them a smirk. "As I was going to say, that file may have satisfied Kale, it does not, however, satisfy us."

"Not by a long shot. We want more, people. A LOT more." Harry said coolly, looking around the table at all of them.

"What more?"

"We want the things Major Kale should have asked you all to look into, but for reasons of his own, never did."

"What things exactly, Lt. Roark?"

"First and foremost, Lt. Cameron, we want several lists."

"Lists of what?" asked a man who sat further down the table, his tone holding a great deal of interest.

Roark looked at him, his lips quirking into a half smile as he met the golden colored eyes. "It's really very simple, Sergeant Tiernan. We want to know where his pleasure houses are, where his drug and gambling dens are. We want to know which streets, which corners and which alleyways he sells his drugs from, then we want to know from where his whores proposition their potential customers."

Roark sat forward, his arms now resting on the table, looking around at them with intent silver eyes, seeing the looks of shock and surprise, right along with a great deal of interest. "We also want to know where he drops his drugs, when and how. We want to know where and when his slavery ships are coming in, then I want to know where he holds his auctions, as we know for a fact he likes changing locations each time he schedule's them. We want to know from where and when he ships the same out to the other Colonies."

"Roark and I also want to find out what other businesses he may have his fingers into, real or imagined. Investigate everything. Finally, but most certainly not least, we want a full list on all his known Terminators, and, if possible, obtain any information on the ones we DON'T know about."

"When do you want them?"

Now Roark returned his gaze to Tristan, giving him an answering smile. "Last secton [week}, Lt. Tristyn."

There were now chuckles and giggles around the table as chairs were pushed back and people stood. "We'll get started on it right away, Lt. Roark."

"In team's people. Harry and I don't want to see anyone working alone anymore. Logan," he turned his head, "as you were already working on the Terminators, I want you to continue doing so with Fili, Kili, and now Tristyn. When I'm done with your brother's and cousin's, I'll send them to you as well, so stay close."

"Will do," he said, getting to his own feet, Fili and Kili following as they met Tristyn at the door, where he immediately began to question them on their change in uniform and hearing the answering laugh from all three of them.

Once the room had emptied, a rustle of sound drew five sets of eyes to Ardyn, who sat back in his chair, a speculative look in his eyes as his gaze shifted from Roark, to Harry then back again. "What?" Roark asked, unaccountably annoyed by the stare.

"You did very well," he said. "I don't think I've ever seen Tristyn, or any of the others for that matter, so set back on their heels before."

"Especially by a seventeen yahren {year} old, inexperienced boy?" he asked with an arched brow.

He frowned. "I didn't say that, Roark."

"Not in so many words, anyway." Desmond said, a frown of his own twisting his brow.

"But the intent to say the words was there." Jordan said, his fingers formed a peak under his chin, his green eyes locked on Ardyn as he relaxed, or so it seemed anyway, back in his chair.

Tyler raised a hand to stop him from saying what he wanted too. "It's all in your voice, Ardyn," he said, as he too settled back in his chair. "You still don't want either Harry or Roark here."

"So tell us, Ardyn, just WHAT, exactly, is your problem with Harry and Roark being here?"

"Alexei-"

"Well, it is, after all, true." Roark interrupted. "I AM seventeen, Harry is twenty one, and we are the youngest Colonial Warrior's to ever be recruited by Counter Intelligence, and compared to some of you, and too many others in the service, we are also very inexperienced. There are many who believe, Lexi, that your Father, Uncle and brothers have lost their minds. That they moved way too fast to acquire us."

"Personally," Jordan shifted his gaze, "I don't think they moved fast ENOUGH."

"Agreed. They should have approached both of you BEFORE you were sent to Virgon."

"As Counter Intelligence hadn't yet been asked to take over when either of them received their orders to report to Virgon, they couldn't." Alexei said with a smile.

"Um…" came from the two.

"What?" Desmond asked as he looked from one to the other.

Matching grins. "That has never stopped them before." Jordan said.

Roark chuckled, shook his head. "Many also believe," he said, "that the real reason we are where we are right now, is not because of our own work, but because we're Commander James Potter's sons, because we're Commander Jacob Adama's grandsons. Isn't that right, Captain Ardyn?"

"Roark, I know you and Harry did not get where you two are now because you're James' sons, or Adama's grandsons. I know how hard you've both worked to get where you are from the moment you entered the Academy."

Harry snorted. "Really?" he snapped, his tone holding disbelief. "Yet you're still so damned determined to get the two of us off Aquaria. Why, I wonder, is that?"

"As do we," Desmond growled.

"You know, Raph and Schyler were set to drop everything, and come here after you called the day they arrived here. They were both rather…annoyed…by your attitude, to say the least, and they want some answers as to why you're so determined to get rid of them."

"Then, of course, we have Uncle Roark and Uncle Thorin. Who, by the by, believe in both of them completely, followed very closely by Dacian and Gabriel. You've managed rather successfully to piss off all five heads of the C.C.I.U. Not exactly a very smart move if you ask me." Tyler said.

"We finished our assignments so Dad, Uncle Thorin and Dacian decided to send us here to back the boys up as was needed." Desmond looked at him, a frown still curving his brow. "We promised to get them the answers they so badly want. So, tell us Ardyn, just what seems to be your problem?"

Roark sat back in his chair, his arms raising to cross over his chest. "How WAS Grandfather, Ardyn?" he asked, a dark brow raising.

Ardyn started, looking over at him in surprise. "How did you know I talked to your grandfather?" he asked looking over at Harry, who raised a brow, emerald eyes alight with amusement.

Roark shrugged. "There are many things I know that others don't think I do. That's part of how I made it through the Academy. Nearly as much as working harder than anyone else ever expected me too."

A snort came at the same time from the brothers and cousins. "Only those who don't know you, Rory. You and Harry were the brightest and most hard working students the Academy had seen in a very long time." Alexei said, his cool considering look resting on Ardyn.

The brothers looked at each of the four, giving them smiles, before returning their gazes back to Ardyn. "Well, from a strategic point of view that would have been the next move for you to make. So yes, of course you would call grandfather."

Ardyn linked his hands over his stomach. "Is that why you were sent to Saggitara?"

He shrugged, a look of great discomfort entered his eyes at the mention of Saggitara, prompting Harry to reach over and set a hand on his arm, squeeze. "As I have no memory of Saggitara, Ardyn, I really can't say," he murmured, reaching up to brush some hair back that persisted in falling into his eyes.

"You need a haircut, kiddo," Alexei growled in playful amusement and affection.

Roark chuckled. "I was just waiting for you, Lex. Dacian threatened to cut my hair, but Gabe and your father made it VERY clear if he came anywhere near me with scissors-"

That brought a round of laughter from Harry, Desmond, Tyler and Jordan. "That's because he nearly butchered Gabe when he tried to cut his hair." Tyler said. "If I remember rightly, Gabriel stayed hidden at home until his hair grew back."

"He did, and I'm very surprised he didn't kill some of the younger boys, given the way they laughed and teased him every time they saw him."

"Yes. I do believe our dear Kili spearheaded THAT particular little game," came from Jordan. "Of course, we weren't any better, were we?"

Alexei shook his head, a chuckle escaping him. "No, we certainly weren't, but hell, how could we be? It was funny. Ah well, back to the subject at hand. Calling Jacob would have been your last resort."

Ardyn looked over at Alexei, then to Desmond sitting at his brothers side. Then his gaze went to the other end of the table where Jordan and Tyler sat with Harry's partner Kenton. With these four Durin's here, things became even more complicated. His gaze shifted to first Harry, then to Roark. Harry and Roark were extremely protective of each other, and the Durin's were known to protect the Potter brothers just as faithfully as they did their own family.

The attraction, he realized, that he'd felt for Roark when he'd first arrived had only become stronger. Hum…a ghost of a new idea began to form in his mind. Maybe he could seduce him. Get him into bed, then maybe…Yes, that may just work, but he'd have to move slowly and very carefully so as not to rouse Harry's protective instincts, and by extension, those of the Durin's as well. He would likely need to deal with all the Durin's that were here on Aquaria at some point anyway.

"Your grandfather was fine," he said, acknowledging that he had called him. It was better to admit it then to lie about it, especially since they'd already guessed correctly that he'd called him. Of course, all they'd have to do is call Jacob and ask him themselves.

"Well, that's good," he said, then waited for Ardyn to go on, and when he only frowned at him, he chuckled. "He refused your request, or to help you get me and Harry off this planet."

He looked at them. "Yes," he growled in response. "He did."

Roark wanted to laugh, but seeing how frustrated he was, instead just shook his head, making a frustrated sound of his own when hair fell into his eyes again. "Oh, Ardyn," he said, reaching up to push it back again. "You really didn't know our grandfather as well as you obviously thought you did, did you?" he asked. "What in Kobol's name made you think he would?"

"He named you, with James and Lily's permission, after the man who is his best friend, was his wingman aboard the Galactica until Admiral Roark was assigned to the Solarian as Commander."

"What exactly, does naming me after Admiral Roark have to do with anything?" he asked, glancing over at Harry when the soft sound he had made reached his ears.

"Maybe everything, perhaps nothing," Ardyn said before he could think to ask his brother what was up. "You're also the youngest. His favorite."

"Just what does that mean? Yes, I'm younger than Harry by four years, but neither of us has ever been favored over the other. We were always treated exactly the same as Uncle Apollo, Aunt Athena and Uncle Zac were."

"He's worried about you being here, about BOTH of you being here. I could see it in his expression, hear it in his voice. He doesn't want you here, Roark. He doesn't want Harry here either."

"That's very true, but then, he didn't want me sent to Virgon either. He also wasn't very happy that Roark, Thorin, Dacian, Gabriel, and Raphael recruited us when they did. He thinks it was too soon just like everyone else, figuring it may be too much responsibility too soon. He is worried, perhaps even a bit afraid for us, though he would never admit it, and yes, he doesn't want us here. He doesn't want either of us anywhere near Tom Riddle. He murdered our parents after all."

"And just for the record, we're all worried," Jordan said, his green eyes very serious.

"With good reason." Tyler agreed. "We're just as worried about Logan, Fili and Kili."

"And none of us wants Harry or Roark to be here. Near the man who so brutally murdered James and Lily Potter."

"Then why send them?!" he cried, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Because if anyone has any chance of bringing down that filth known as Tom Riddle, it's Harry and Roark. They're incorruptible. Riddle won't get to them like he's gotten to so many of the others."

A seemingly startled pause, then, "Kale?"

A frown on all their faces. "We don't know, but we certainly intend to find out." Harry told him with an uncompromising look. "I'd be very surprised if grandfather were to tell you differently, but there's something you really should understand."

"What's that?"

"Harry and I made a choice to join the Academy when we did, and we did so under the full knowledge of what it would mean. Everyone spoke to both of us about it in great length…From grandfather, to grandmother, Uncles Apollo and Zac, Aunt Athena, to every single damn Durin-" four deep chuckles from the four Durin's present. "They all made DAMN sure Harry and I knew EXACTLY what we were getting into, and the consequences of joining the Service when Harry was sixteen and I was fourteen. But once we passed all the entrance exams with such high scores, there really was no choice for any of us. We made the decision to go through full military training, including Viper training to become a full Colonial Warrior, and all that entails."

"We also accepted," Harry picked up as he sat forward in his chair, resting his arms on the table, "Roark, Thorin, Dacian, Gabriel, and Raphael knowing full well what being a Colonial Counter Intelligence Officer would mean. Being what we are is very important to both us, and everyone close to us knows that. None of them would ever want to do anything to take that away from us."

"Harry, Roark-"

"They are our decisions, Ardyn, therefor they're our consequences," Roark interrupted.

"Just what, Roark Potter, are you trying to prove? That you're as good as, or better than your father? Your Grandfather? Your Uncle? That you're as good as or better than any of the Durin's-"

"Gods-damn it, Ardyn!" he exploded suddenly, shooting out of his chair to slam his hands onto the table, his brother and the four Durin's tensing at his sudden explosion of fury. "Open your damn stubborn mind! This isn't about my father! This isn't about Grandfather or Uncle Apollo. This isn't about the Durin's and it most certainly isn't about being better than everyone else!"

: Roark. : came the calming whisper into his mind.

"I'm not trying to prove a Gods-damned thing to anyone!" the lights flickered suddenly. "It's everyone who wants me to prove myself!"

: Rory, please. : A voice he thought he recognized. : You NEED to calm down. :

"This has always been about me! About Harry! It's about what we want, what we feel we need for our own lives! We are not just Commander James Potter's sons. Not just Commander Jacob Adama's grandsons. I am me! Roark Christopher Potter! And Harry is just Hadrian James Potter. It's us wanting to be ourselves, to be-"

"Well, well, well," came his suddenly self-satisfied tone, interrupting the furious rant, snapping five heads around, five pairs of green eyes suddenly narrowing, one of them with fury. "What do you know?" he asked. "There is some passion in you after all. You're NOT quite all ice as I had begun to suspect you were."

Roark froze, his blazing silver eyes meeting hazel. That SON of a BITCH! He had set out to infuriate him intentionally. He made a sound, his fury vanishing as fast as it had erupted. He sighed deeply then, his head dropping. "Ah, frack," he said, turning to move to the window, not seeing Alexei, Desmond, Jordan, and Tyler looking at each other questioningly, nor Desmond and Tyler shaking their heads. Harry looked at all of them, and when they turned their gazes on him, he raised a brow which in turn earned him shrugs.

He stood then, moved to his brother, bumped their shoulders together which brought Roark's head around to look at him. "Alright?" came softly as he reached up to brush some hair back out of his eyes. "I haven't seen you that angry in a very long time, little brother."

A deep sigh. "No, you haven't. I don't think I've let myself get that angry in a very long time. The last time I did, I put the trainee I was sparing with in the infirmary. Why does it always have to be so fucking hard, Harry?" he asked in a soft voice. "Why can't we just be accepted for who we are? Not what everyone else wants us to be?"

Ardyn stood, moving around the table, never noticing the silent communication between the brothers and cousins as his eyes were on Roark and Harry as he moved toward them.

"Very likely because you entered the Academy a full four yahrens {year} and Harry a full two yahrens {year} earlier than anyone has ever tried to. Then, to make matters worse, you both then went about completing a four yahren {year} course in two, far outstripping everyone not only in class work, but in practical's, as well as exams. Roark, you scored the highest marks ever seen in Academy history, and Harry you scored the second highest. You graduated, Roark, a full two yahrens {year} before you were supposed to, and with full Honors. Those are hard facts for any warrior's ego, including mine, to take."

He heaved another, even deeper sigh, "I suppose grandfather told you what our final exam scores were?"

"He didn't need too. I looked up your records on my own. It was amazing, if not a bit intimidating that a mere sixteen and twenty yahren {year} old had exam scores, written AND practical, that were the highest of any cadet in the history of the Academy, including your father, more than a few of the Durin's, as well as a few others. Hell, Roark, you even outscored Commander Cain and Admiral Roark, both of whom WERE, and still ARE, despite Cain's death and the Admiral's retirement from active combat duty, considered strategic and tactical geniuses." He wanted to touch him, to lay hands on him, but he knew that would be the wrong move to make. It wasn't the right time yet. 'Patience,' he told himself. 'Don't rush.'

Roark's head bowed. "I wasn't trying to outdo, or even out score anyone. I just wanted to do the best I could possibly do. My size…my age…both were against me. They all kept saying I'd never survive the most rigorous of the training, that I'd drop out before the first semester was done. I just wanted to show them they were wrong. That I COULD do it."

Now. Now he could touch him. "I'd say you did exactly what you wanted to do," he said, lifting his hands to lay them on his shoulders, felt him tense as he squeezed lightly. "Quite convincingly, in fact. The both of you did."

Roark drew free of him, turned, and lifted his head to look at him, his expression hooded, hidden. "So convincingly, we're still not accepted. So be it. We'll deal with it as we always have, ignore it as best we can," he said, drawing himself up. "We need Kale's files, as well as all his reports. Do you know where they are?"

"Yes. They're in a storage room across from my office. I'll get them for you and bring them to you here."

"No," Harry said suddenly with a shake of his head, "take them to our office."

"As you wish," he said looking at him to see the same hooded and hidden expression as was in his brother's eyes. He turned then, nodded to the four Durin's to Kenton, who had not spoken a single word, opting instead to watch, to study, before walking to the door and leaving the conference room.

"THAT…could become a problem," he spoke up finally, turning back to them after the door had slid closed.

"A very big problem," Desmond said in agreement, getting to his feet and stretching.

Roark turned his head to look at both of them. "What could?"

"He wants you, Rory." Alexei said, standing and stretching as well, then moved to his side.

"Hum…I had noticed that he seemed to be attracted to me, but why does he want me? Not, mind you, that I'm interested, but does he want me for himself, or is it something else?" he shook his head. "When he touched me…" he paused, shook his head again, a confused look entering his eyes.

"Roark, what is it?" Harry asked, reaching out to curl his hand around his wrist.

He shook his head, his confusion becoming more visible. "What, Rory?" Jordan asked, waiting for him to answer, and when he didn't, he too stood and stretched, moving to his side. "Rory, when he touched you…what?"

"I don't know, Jordan. He still doesn't want me, want US here, and we need to ask ourselves why. If what I sensed from him is true, we're going to have to watch what we say around him more than we already do."

Tyler came to stand beside his cousins, setting his hand on a suddenly very tense Harry's shoulder. "What did you sense from him, Rory?"

He shook his head again. "I'm not really sure, Ty. It was all a twisted mess of conflicting emotions and thoughts. There was not one single feeling or thought that I could lock on or separate from the others."

"I see. Do you believe he may be the leak we're looking for?"

A nod. "Unfortunately, I do, but to what extent it has become, I can't say. I don't want to believe it, but that also means there's a possibility that he's the one who killed Kale, and NOT Rodolphus Lestrange as everyone has been led to believe."

"Rodolphus didn't murder Kale." Desmond said surely.

"No, he didn't." Alexei agreed. "It wasn't his style. I've seen a few of his terminations after the fact, and I've heard even more about him to know that."

"Then why aren't we arresting him?" Tyler growled. "If he killed Kale, then we need-"

"We'd love nothing better, but we don't have any proof, Ty," he interrupted quickly, reaching up to lay a hand on his chest. "But I promise you this, just as I did Logan, Kale's murderer WILL be brought to justice, and if it was Ardyn…" he looked up, met his green eyes. "We need to find the proof that it was actually him, Tyler."

"Would you like us to work on that instead of helping Logan?"

"Yes, I think that might be a good idea. I'll let Logan know there's been a change of plans. IF Ardyn IS our leak, let's try to use him instead of him using us. Harry and I are going to start going through Kale's files, as well as try to finish up with the team today."

They nodded, Desmond slipping an arm around his waist and drawing him against his side for a hug, pressing a light kiss to his brow. "Are you alright? I can feel you're still humming a bit," he said worriedly, a frown creasing his brow.

Roark rested against him for a moment, then turned his head to look up into his eyes. "I'm fine, Desmond. It's just…if it really is Ardyn, this is going to hurt an awful lot of people, the least of which will be his family."

A nod from all four of them. "We know, and that's why this job can be so fucking hard." Jordan said.

Harry nodded as Roark drew himself free of Desmond. "Let's get to work then, shall we?" he asked them, earning his nods.

cccVccc

Over the next few centars {hour}, the brothers sat in their office, reading page after page, file after file, report after report, and the more they read…the more they FOUND, the more furious Roark became. HOW DARE THEY?! he began to rage, jumping up from his chair to begin pacing the office, his forehead creased with a frown, silver eyes blazing with fury.

Harry's head came up as soon as his brother jumped out of his chair, his own emerald eyes rolling in fury. Suddenly realizing that he would never be able to calm the amount of fury rolling from his younger brother, no matter how much he wanted to try, he knew he was going to need one of the Durin's.

Roark never noticed Harry leaving their office as he continued to rage within his mind. How dare these sons of bitches cover up their own crimes by placing them on someone with a spotless record; on someone who couldn't even defend himself, and they, his family and friends had been ordered NOT to. Kale had despised drugs, had despised human trafficking, absolutely hated both with a passion. He would never have used or sold either, would never—

"Roark."

He'd been so busy raging, building himself up into such a towering black fury, he hadn't heard his door open, noticed him entering, Harry behind him until his calm, deep voice spoke his name. He came forward quickly, reaching out to draw him against his tall, hard body, forcing his head to his chest, to rest just under his chin, listening to the beat of his heart.

"Easy now," he said softly near his ear. "Calm yourself. Let go of the fury before you do something you regret. It's not going to do you, anyone else, and most especially not Kale any good to work yourself up like this when there is nothing we can do about it right now."

"I know," he rasped, "but what they've done…what they've TRIED to do would have destroyed not only his perfect record, but everything about him. Oh, GODS, Des," he felt tears building in his eyes, "it's just not fair that we have to sit here, that we have to allow this to happen."

"No, it's not. Especially when everything in us is screaming to defend him. And we will. Just not yet. We will not allow him to be tarnished by this, Roark. I promise you that." After a few more minutes, he released him, stepped back to look down into his eyes. "Better now?"

Roark reached up to wipe at his eyes and gave him a weak smile. "Somewhat. But…how did you know?" he asked.

"I'm not as strong as Ethan, Rohan, or Kili, but I've more than enough empathy to know you needed help immediately. Besides, Harry came and got me."

Roark looked to where his brother still stood by the door, his eyes holding a great deal of worry. "Thank you, brother."

Harry came forward, slipping an arm around him to hug him to his side. "I could see that you were building yourself into such a towering black fury that I would never be able to calm you down from. You needed someone who knew what this was and what to do about it."

"So this then would be the reason I was sent to Saggitara?"

"In part, and it would be best to leave this to Ethan to explain. I'm going to call him as soon as I get back to my office and appraise him of this situation. If you keep leaking like this there's going to be problems, and not just for you. It's a good thing both Kili and Tyler are out of the building or they'd be here as well."

"Desmond, I heard you earlier. You were trying to calm me down in the conference room."

"Actually, that was Tyler, but yes, we were trying to calm you down before you blew every light in the building AND gave everyone a rather severe migraine. Like now. Your fury, little one, is a very potent thing."

"I don't understand what's happening to me."

A look of deep regret. "I know you don't, and I'm truly sorry about that, but I'm not the person who can explain this to you best."

"Can't you give me something? ANYTHING?"

"You have some very strong gifts, Rory, gifts that Harry doesn't have and therefor can't understand either. Empathy and telepathy are only two. When you were ten you were sent to Saggitara to begin to teach you to control them, to teach you to ground and center yourself, and to build shields and walls around those gifts, but something happened…something bad enough that it prompted Ethan, Rohan, and several others to place some very strong blocks on your gifts."

"Now he's older," Harry said, looking up at him, his emerald eyes full of question, "and these gifts have become much stronger."

"Yes," he nodded. "So strong, in fact, that the blocks placed on them are beginning to fail under the pressure of keeping them contained."

He sighed. "Okay. So what, exactly, do I need to do to prevent this from happening again?"

"For now, just try to stay calm. Don't let your anger build into such a fury that it gets too much for you to control. If you ever feel you need help, just talk to Harry. If that doesn't work, then Kili, Tyler and I are just around the corner. Hell, even though they don't have most of the gifts that we do, Alexei, Jordan and Fili could help. All of us will do whatever we can, but we need to get Ethan here to help you get grounded and centered enough to build some walls to protect yourself, as well as others around you. You could hurt someone without meaning too."

"That is something I have no wish to do. Thanks, Des."

"You're welcome," his head tilted slightly. "Will you be alright now?"

"I'll be fine. Harry's here and he won't let me build myself into such a fury like that again. Go call Ethan, then return to whatever you were doing."

A soft chuckle. "Yes sir."

cccVccc

"What have you got for me?" he asked as soon as he slid into the corner booth the man sat in.

"Nothing good, I'm afraid. The case against you has been turned over to Colonial Counter Intelligence. The Officer sent here to replace Kale is a young man named Lieutenant Roark Potter. His second is his brother, Lieutenant Hadrian Potter."

"Potter!" came the furious hiss, eyes narrowing as he remembered how he had so brutally killed James and Lily Potter when the boys were barely two years old, he had thought he had killed both of the boys but had learned they had survived. He intended to rectify that as soon as was possible. 'Hum…'he thought silently, 'I think I'll set the Lestrange's on them.' "That's those kids who were responsible for shutting down my operations on Virgon!"

"Yes, it is. Roark is a strategic and tactical specialist, and Harry isn't much behind him. They already have the team looking for things I was able to prevent Kale from investigating. Captain Fili, and Lt.'s Logan and Kili have all been promoted to Counter Intelligence. He has the three of them and Lt. Tristyn investigating your Terminators, and who they are. The others are investigating your various works around the city. He also has two other Counter Intelligence teams here. Brothers, Major Alexei and Captain Desmond Durin. And cousins, Colonel Jordan Durin and Major Tyler Durin."

"Damn Durin's!" he snarled. "There's just too many of them. Kill one, and four more pop up."

A soft chuckle as he sat back in the leather seat of the booth, drink in hand. "Sad, but true. I have the beginnings of a plan in motion, but I'm not completely sure it will work. Roark is young, and he's very attractive. Come to that, Harry is quite attractive himself. I've a hint Roark may be as attracted to me as I am to him, but his brother is extremely protective, and the Durin's are a very protective bunch as well. I'm going to have to move slowly and be careful not to rouse them. If I do, I may need to deal with them as I dealt with Kale. Of course, I may decide to do that anyway just for the pleasure of it."

"Hum…yes, I see. What are their plans? And what will yours be if you fail to seduce him?"

"Their plans are just what you think they are, and they've only just gotten started. Should my plan to seduce him fail," he shrugged, sipped from his glass, a smile twisting his lips at the image he called up. "I'll simply rape him, then kill him."

A cruel smile twisted thin lips. "Good. In the meantime, I'll be putting my own plans into motion." He tossed two leather pouches onto the table. "Your normal supply and your pay, the price for the drugs subtracted, of course. If your plans to seduce him look like they may be coming to fruition, come see me. I may just have a drug for you to use to assist you."

A brow rose. "Something new, I gather?"

"Yes, and from what I've seen," a grin, "and experienced, it works VERY well. An aphrodisiac with a pleasure enhancer. You'll get many centars {hours} of pleasure from the boy once you've given it to him."

"Interesting," he set his empty glass down, got to his feet. "If something new happens, I'll send you word via our normal lines."

"You do that."

cccVccc

"You sent for me," he growled, sliding easily into the booth, his back to the wall.

A color holograph was placed down before him. "Take a good look at him."

He looked down, then returned his gaze to the man before him. "What about him, Tom?" he asked coldly. "Aside from the fact he has the slight look of a Lestrange, is absolutely gorgeous, and has very interesting silver eyes."

A smirk. "He does doesn't he? Isn't he? And his eyes ARE interesting. THAT Rodolphus, is Lieutenant Roark Potter. Colonial Counter Intelligence. He is the youngest son of Commander James Potter. He and his brother are here on Aquaria."

A sable brow shot up. "Are they then?" He looked back down at the holograph. "So?" he asked, pushing it away. "What is your point?"

"The point is that he is now your target. He and that brother of his are the ones who broke up my operations on Virgon."

The sable brow rose again, full lips quirking into a half smile. "Did they then?" he sat back, arms lifting to crossing over his muscular, black leather covered chest. "And now they're here on Aquaria."

"Yes," was snarled. "In the few short sectons {weeks} that they've been here, they've managed to do quite a bit of damage, and my informant there says they're just getting started. In the last secton {week} alone they've closed two of my pleasure houses, one drug den, and two gambling dens. They've captured a few of my drug and slave runners, confiscated five incoming and two outgoing shipments. They're making a laughing stock of my people. Of me. I want him, want THEM dealt with."

Interesting, he thought, reaching out for the holograph, sherry colored eyes moving over the smiling, absolutely GORGEOUS young man. He was very surprised when he felt the sudden, very strong flare of lust. He looked up.

"You have his bio?"

"Here, be aware that sixteen yahren ago, I murdered their parents and thought that I had killed them. I learned last year when they began to work the Virgon case against me that I had not. They had been VERY well hidden from me, but no longer. The details are in the file as well." A folder was passed over to him, followed by a leather pouch. Then he laid a second folder down along with a second leather bag. "Your usual pay. I couldn't reach your brother but give him that. I want him to take care of the other boy. I want them dead, Rodolphus."

He reached out, picked up both folders and bags. "I'll get ahold of Rabastan as soon as I get home." That said, he stood and left the table, thinking to himself…so now the games begin. Rabastan would certainly be excited that things were finally going to start moving. He chuckled softly thinking, may the better team win.

cccVccc

Roark stared at the map spread out over his coffee table, slender fingers slowly messaging his aching temples. Beside the map lay a slip of paper telling him of an incoming drug shipment from Taura, a second slip of paper, in totally different handwriting than the first, told him of a shipment of kidnapped young boys and girls from several different Colonies. However, right now, the question giving him such a headache was where they were going to land, and when. The when he'd know soon enough he was sure, but the where…now THAT was the real question.

Both notes containing the information had appeared suddenly, one in his and Harry's office, the second in the one Fili shared with his brother and cousin. Once the information they contained had been verified, and they all realized that they may just have TWO informants. They had called Admiral Roark, asking him about it, and he had verified that yes, they had two, not one informant in place.

They had set about trying to do something about the information handed to them, however, he really hated trying to fig-There it was again. The feeling tingled over his nerves. The feeling that he was being watched. He looked around, but saw nothing, and shook his head, turning his attention back to what he was doing. He closed his eyes, shook his head in frustration. Damn it! That feeling of being watched tingled over him once again, bringing his head up quickly, eyes opening to look around his apartment.

No one.

He stood, moved over to the sideboard that sat to the right of the large stone fireplace. He reached out to pick up a bottle, poured himself a glass of light, fruity Aquarian red wine, which he immediately sipped, sighing tiredly. Lifting his free hand, he rubbed at his neck, trying to ease the tension tightening the muscles of his neck and shoulders. He really ought to take a break, he thought, looking over at the end table beside his couch where the book he had been coloring in lay open.

He froze then, the feeling of being watched becoming much stronger.

There was no doubt. Someone was watching…studying him. It felt like he was being weighed for his worth. His senses…his nerves tingled with a new awareness…He turned suddenly, his hand flashing down to draw his laser pistol. They both froze, their eyes meeting…holding.

A man was standing in the shadows just outside the patio doors. He was in black. Black boots, into which was tucked black leather pants that molded his legs, thighs and…other things, he thought, quite well. TOO well if you counted the fact that the pants looked like a second skin on him. A black silk shirt was tucked into the pants, a black leather vest over the shirt, and finally, black leather gloves covered his hands.

He looked to be in his early thirties, and he was tall, standing over six feet. His body very nicely proportioned, lithe, lean, but muscular in all the right places. His face was angular, tanned by the summer sun, framed by sable brown hair the ends curling against his neck. Finally, his eyes were a sherry colored brown, making Roark think of the sherry that his grandmother loved to drink.

Neither spoke. Neither moved. They simply stood, studying each other.

"You really shouldn't sneak up on people," he finally said, returning his laser to its holster and securing it. "It could get you killed."

"I don't generally make a habit of sneaking up on people I know will shoot first and ask questions later," he said in a cool tone. "Besides, those I sneak up on don't generally know I'm there," a smirk twisted his lips, "not until it's too late, anyway."

"Ah, of course," he returned, lifting his glass to sip from it, his eyes never leaving him. "Who are you?" he asked the man who had yet to move from the shadows of the patio doors, left open to the warm, humid night.

He stepped forward then. "Rodolphus Corvus Lestrange, Lieutenant Roark. I'm quite sure you've heard of me."

A brow went up at the quiet introduction of himself, a smirk twisting his lips. "As a matter of fact, I have. Could hardly avoid it, now could I?" he spoke calmly, apparently not bothered at all by the fact he had a Terminator in his living room. "Riddle's left hand. One of his top Terminators. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you, but I'm quite sure we both know I'd be lying."

Rodolphus' brow rose, head tilting slightly as he continued to study him. "You're not afraid of me," he said, a slow smile beginning to twist his lips. "Good. That will make things SO…OO much more interesting."

"I'm glad you think so, Terminator," Roark replied with just a hint of sarcasm, leaning back against the sideboard. He sipped his wine again, allowing his eyes to move over Rodolphus in a slow perusal, feeling his heartbeat stutter, his nerves give a shimmer of reaction and his blood even began to heat. "So, Rodolphus Corvus Lestrange, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company tonight?" he asked. Oh. Wow, he thought. He was attracted to him. Well, that was certainly unexpected. It was also highly inappropriate. To say the least.

"To give you a warning. Drop this war against Tom Riddle, or I will be your death."

A deep chuckle sounded, surprising Rodolphus, though he never allowed it to show, any more then he let show how Lieutenant Roark Potter's so slow perusal and aplomb reaction to him had attracted him as much as anything else about this young man. How…odd. He hadn't been THIS strongly attracted to someone in well over a few yahren {year}. His wife was often a better deterrent than anything else. She loved to leave pieces of any lover he dared to take lying around for him to find, and just because she could, she would sometimes kill Rabastan's lovers.

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised about this."

"No? Why is that?" came the surprised question.

"First Virgon, now I'm here. We have to be doing some damage if he's sent you after me," a shrug as he straightened. "Feel free to try and stop me Rodolphus, but a word to the wise. I don't intend to stop. It's my full intention to take that filth you work for down."

Okay, that was just…wow, he thought, now allowing his own eyes to move over him. Absolutely gorgeous. Stunning. "Not if you're dead, and you WILL be dead Roark Christopher Potter. The choice, of course, is yours."

"My choice has already been made, Rodolphus. Stand between us if you must but know that I'm not going to stop. It won't do you any good to stand between us. I'm taking him down, and I'll take you down with him if you insist on getting in my, in our way."

Oh yes, this was going to be so much fun. He loved a good challenge, and this Lieutenant was going to give him one hell of a challenge. "Well then, we'll just have to wait and see who will gain the upper hand, won't we? Let the games begin," he gave the young Lieutenant a mock salute, then turned and left as silently as he'd shown up.

Roark stared after him, confusion now becoming visible on his face. Deep within his mind, it felt like something had just shattered, shattered like glass under a thrown rock Now, on top of the attraction he felt for the Terminator, he now felt something else. A sense of an instant recognition of some kind, of a connection he's never felt before with anyone else. Not even Harry.

But how was that possible?

He had never meet Rodolphus. Had he? Who was this man named Rodolphus Corvus Lestrange, and why did he feel like he should know him? Roark sank slowly to the floor, his back to the sideboard, his body beginning to shake in reaction.

Why, he asked himself, did he feel like he'd just met the other half of his soul?

"ROARK!" he came bursting through the open doors of his terrace, out of breath from his run from his own apartment. "ROARK, WHERE—Oh thank God!" he gasped, seeing him sitting on the floor, his back to the wall, face and eyes blank of any expression. "Rory?" he moved to him quickly, sank down beside him, sliding his arm around his shoulders to draw him against him.

Roark stirred a few centons {minutes} later, his head lifting off his shoulder. "Can I assume you received a visit from a Terminator issuing a warning as well?"

"Rabastan Dante Lestrange. Rodolphus?"

"Umm…" he lay his head back on his shoulder. "Things are going to get very interesting around here, Harry."

A snort. "You aren't kidding, little brother."

As he lay his cheek against his brother's soft midnight hair, he wondered if Roark had been as attracted to Rodolphus as he had been to Rabastan.

cccVccc

Rodolphus entered the house he shared with his brother and his wife, going immediately to the liquor cabinet he reached for, then poured himself a healthy measure of strong Saggitarian brandy. As he drank, he was asking himself a lot of questions.

Like why Roark Potter had the look of a Lestrange? He was after all, the youngest son of James and Lily Potter. Then there was the attraction he'd felt for the young, handsome Lieutenant, though in truth he had to admit that really didn't surprise him as much as he had thought it would, but its strength and depth had. What had surprised him even more was the feeling of that wall in Roark's mind shattering the moment their eyes had met, followed by the feeling of an instant recognition, a bonding. There had also been a most unexpected linking of minds, which he didn't think Roark had noticed or felt at all, or if he had he hadn't shown it.

These feelings were now begging the question of why? Why was he feeling these things so suddenly, and so strongly when he never had before. The few lovers he had taken over the yahrens {year} had never roused this depth of feeling before. Not even his wife, but Bellatrix didn't really come into play as she had been an arranged marriage, and he had begun to hate her not long after their wedding night. He remembered, after being handed the holograph how he had felt that flare of lust. Then, when he'd been standing across from him, he's felt like his blood was boiling, his nerves receiving electric jolts. What would have happened had he tried to touch him?

Hum… Perhaps, he thought, as he set his now empty glass down, it was time to begin an investigation of his own concerning Lieutenant Roark Christopher Potter. A deeper one then the one he had already done when he'd learned just who would be replacing Major Kale, using his own resources. His own informants.

"Dolph," came his brothers voice. "Pour me one would you brother?" he came into the house, the door sliding closed behind him as he came across the living room at a near run.

Rodolphus raised a brow but did as asked. "You too?"

"Fuck that boy is gorgeous," came his growl, "and the way he just stood there, looking at me, talking back to me as if I weren't a fucking Terminator, giving him fair warning that he would be dead if he didn't drop his investigation and return to Caprica. The way he was smirking at me had me wanting to grab him and fuck him right then and there against the wall."

"Yeah. Roark wasn't any more afraid of me. The way he just stood there…looking at me, talking back to me—"

"RO…DOLPH…US!" came the screech from upstairs, followed by the sound of something breaking.

Both brother's grimaced, looking up the stairs. "She's in one of her…moods. Why don't you just kill the bitch?" Rabastan growled.

"You know why." He slammed the last of the brandy back. "Go to bed, Bas. After I deal with Bella, I'm going to do the same."

cccVccc

Roark rose with the sun, having sent Harry home to get some rest in the wee centars {hours} of the morning after they had both discussed their visits from the Lestrange brothers. As he moved past the mirror in his bathroom, he saw a much paler face then was normal, dark circles under exhausted silver eyes, speaking loudly of what he already knew. He had not slept well. Not well at ALL. Had, in fact, spent a very restless night plagued by dreams, or, more like, one dream in particular. Even now, he felt his face flushing, his body heating as he remembered the content of that one dream alone.

"Frack!" he swore sharply, raising a hand to run his fingers through his hair, wondering if Harry had had the same problem as him. What the hell was it about that damn Terminator that drew him like a moth to the flame? Furious with himself, he swore again, stomping over to the shower. He needed to get himself under control before he faced the Durin's. All of them had all the skills necessary to read him like an open book.

cccVccc

He and Harry met at the end of the walkway between their apartments, and meeting his brothers exhausted green eyes he knew Harry had slept no better than him. "Dreams too?" he asked him, his face flushing a bit, saw Roark nod. "I said it last night, I'll say it again now. We are going to be in so much trouble if we don't get a handle on this."

Roark nodded. "Let's get to Headquarters. We need to tell the others about this."

"Hum…but we say nothing about this attraction we both have toward them."

"Agreed brother. Besides, if we did tell them, they'd likely lock us both up, then throw away the keys."

They entered headquarters together just over a centar {hour} and a half later, having stopped at the local bookstore for a little bit of relaxing shopping, then at a corner café for a couple of breakfast burritos each, and cups of strong, black sweet tea. They saw Tristyn and Logan talking quietly near the reception desk, and as they moved across the Atrium they saw Fili and Kili entering via one of the side doors. They greeted each other with wide cheerful smiles, even Tristyn, to their surprise was smiling at them.

"Good morning, Rory, Harry."

"Morning Logan, Kili, Fili. Tristyn." Harry said.

"Morning," Roark mumbled, finishing off his burrito, then drinking some tea, hoping to throw them off the scent before they even latched on.

No such luck as Logan's smile began to change, and Kili was looking at him closely, much too closely as a frown was beginning to appear. "You look tired, Rory." Logan said, his head tilting. "Harry? There's something wrong."

"Very wrong." Kili agreed. "What's happened, you two?"

A deep sigh. 'Just like a damn book,' Roark thought with a grimace. "Logan, call your brothers. Fili, Kili, call Jordan and Tyler. Ask them to come to our office. Tris," he turned, "will you go find Captain Ardyn? Ask him to join us in our office."

He frowned his deep blue gaze focused on his face. "Yes sir," he said, moving away quickly.

"They're on their way," Logan said as he fell into step beside him.

"As is Jordan." Fili said as he looked at him. "Are you alright?"

"We're fine. Ki?"

"He'll meet us at your office," he said, returning his communicator to his weapons belt. "Are you going to tell us what's wrong?"

"We will, but not here. In our office where all and sundry can't hear what we have to say."

"Oh, oh," came softly from Kili, a worried look being thrown at the brothers as they began to walk.

cccVccc

Tyler was indeed waiting at the office door, a frown curving his brow. "What's going on?"

"We'll tell you as soon as everyone I asked to be here, gets here." Roark said, keying the security code into the key pad on his door. The door slid open, allowing them to enter, Harry immediately going to the sideboard to make some more tea for him and Rory. They needed something to settle them, and as it was much too early to start drinking anything with alcohol, tea would have to do.

Tristyn and Ardyn were the first to arrive, to find Roark pacing the office like a caged wild Lupus, while Harry was sitting in the edge of his desk, eyes on his brother, sipping from a hot mug of tea while the other sat forgotten beside him for now. Both looked from Harry to Logan, then at Fili and Kili, then finally Tyler, all of whom shrugged, two pairs of blue, one green and a pair of brown returning to watch Roark pace back and forth worriedly. They moved to take seats as the door slid open to admit Alexei, Desmond, and Jordan. As soon as they saw Roark, they frowned, looking at each other, then back at him.

"Roark?" Alexei asked softly, worriedly. Then looked at Harry sitting on the edge of his desk. "Harry?"

The pacing stopped. He turned, his silver eyes hooded, thoughts clearly hidden from them, even his brother. He looked from one to the other until his gaze fell on Ardyn, then his expression cooled considerably.

"What is it, Roark?" he asked, wondering what he could possibly be thinking for him to look at him like that. "You're pacing like a caged Lupus."

"I was thinking more along the lines of a panther myself," Kili said.

Roark tensed, then moved to take his chair finally, accepting the mug that Harry passed to him. He sipped still saying nothing until he had finished his tea. Leaning forward, he set the mug on his desk. Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked at each of them again, still not saying a word.

Desmond moved then to sit on the corner of his desk. "Rory, Harry, come on. You want to tell us what's happened to set you both so on edge? Not to push, but your silence is really beginning to worry me; worry US."

"We had visitors last night." Roark finally said quietly.

A soft chuckle sounded from Tristyn. "Visitors was it?" he asked relaxing back into his chair. "Roark, as great as you and your brother getting a life outside of this office would be, why would you get so worked up about her? Or, for that matter, tell us about it."

"I wouldn't," he answered coolly with a glare, "and trust me Lt., if I cared at all for female companionship, which I don't, I would not be telling you about it. My personal life is just that. Personal."

"Goes double for me, on all counts." Harry all but growled at him with a glare.

Ardyn sat forward with a frown of his own now. "So, your visitors weren't female, but male. Roark, the same question applies. Why tell us about a visitor at all?"

Silver and emerald eyes flared with anger. "Again," was snapped harshly, "had it been that kind of a visit, I wouldn't, as once again, it would be none of your business." He saw the flash of jealous anger flare in Ardyn's eyes. "These particular visitors weren't friends to either of us. In fact, Captain, given the words they spoke to us last night, I can safely say they're an enemy, and very dangerous ones at that."

"Who was it, Roark?" Jordan asked, throwing a silencing glare at both Tristyn and Ardyn, as all both were doing were making the boys angry. They didn't need either of them angry right now because when Harry was angry, it fed Roark's anger, and as it was beginning to become much too difficult to calm him down, they didn't want or NEED an angry Harry OR Roark.

"Rodolphus Corvus Lestrange," came from Roark.

"Rabastan Dante Lestrange," came just as softly from Harry.

Then they waited, each with a smirk on their lips, eyes beginning to sparkle mischievously as they waited. Watched. Silence. Then three of the nine began to swear, while the other five began to ask questions, at the same time. "Quiet!" Alexei shouted, stepping forward with a glare at them all.

"Frack, Roark, why didn't either of you call someone?"

"To what purpose, Ardyn?" he asked with a raised brow at the irritation he heard. "He issued his threat, and a warning, then he left." Well, not quite THAT quickly. "He was hardly going to stick around and wait for warriors to arrive at my door."

"Same here. He came in the open terrace doors, gave me his warning, his threat, then left."

"How can you be so calm about this?!" Tristyn demanded. "Riddle's left hand, his top Terminators, have targeted you. Threatened your lives."

"Our lives, Tristyn, have been threatened before," Harry said as he shrugged. "It's not the first time, nor, I'm quite sure, will it be the last. Believe me, we're not nearly as calm as you seem to think we are. I, however, won't, absolutely will NOT give Riddle the satisfaction by letting him think his hired Terminator has scared me."

"Nor will I," Roark said quietly.

"Are you scared?"

"Not particularly, but we are wary. Rodolphus and Rabastan are, after all, top Terminators for a very good reason. They did not get where they are now by being sloppy. They're very careful in what they do, meticulous in the way they make their plans. "

"Besides," Tyler spoke up with a slight tilt to his head, "show your enemy he's scared you, he'll be sure to take advantage of that, take greater pleasure in teasing and tormenting you."

"And we all know how Riddle loves his games." Desmond said with some amusement, though he still looked a little worried.

Roark chuckled. "Yes, there is that, but Rodolphus took my non-show of fear as a challenge, and according to what Harry told me of Rabastan's visit, it was the same for him."

A snort. "They would." Logan said. "A more unpredictable pair of Terminators we will never find."

"Very true," Kili spoke up now. "They love a good challenge and they both find amusement in some of the strangest things. While Rodolphus has never been one to play games, his brother..." he shook his head, a dark brow raising, amusement flickering through his brown eyes. "Rabastan is known to love games. Much like the two of you."

Now it was the brothers turn to snort, amusement flickering momentarily in both their eyes. "Gods, isn't that the truth." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "His exact words were, 'You're not afraid of me. Good. That'll make things that much more interesting'."

"Rabastan kind of chuckled, 'Oh you're going to be fun to play with. I like when they think they aren't afraid, because then I get to prove them wrong'."

"Rory," Fili pushed away from the wall where he'd been leaning, moving to sit on the arm of Logan's chair. "Harry, what else did they say to you?" he asked, his blue eyes intent, serious as he looked from one brother back to the other.

Logan sat forward just as intently, his fingers forming a steeple under his chin. He made Roark think of Admiral Roark at that exact moment as he said, "Their exact words, if you please."

Soft laughter from the brothers as they looked at him. "Do you have any idea just how much like your father you look right now?" Roark asked him.

A bright smile. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was meant to be one," he said affectionately, feeling a burst of intense jealousy, and made a quick glance over at its source.

"Tell us what they said to you, boys." Desmond said, a sudden frown curving his brow as he too glanced over at Ardyn, and he was, by no means, the only one of the Durin family to react. "Rory, you go first."

Roark sat back in his chair, fingers twined together, twin forefingers under his chin. "He said he was there to warn me. That if I didn't stop this war against Riddle, he would be my death."

"Frack," Fili breathed.

"Well, fuck," Logan muttered, sitting back in his chair, tilting his head back to look up at Alexei when he felt his hands on his shoulders, squeezing. "Sorry, Lex."

Alexei looked down, "Don't worry about it. I was thinking the exact same thing. Harry, from your amused expression, a gather Rabastan's message was the same?"

"Yep," he answered, popping his p, earning him a soft chuckle and a shake of his head. "Perhaps a bit different wording, but the message was the same. Drop the war or met the consequences of not doing so."

He turned back to Roark. "Was that all that was said to you, Rory?"

"Pretty much. Just that it was my choice," he looked at Tristyn, then to Logan, and finally, to Kili. "Do we have anything else on either of them?"

"There's next to nothing on him, we already knew he was married. Bellatrix Black-Lestrange is also a Terminator, and she's rumored to be quite mad." Tristan said, looking over at Logan and Kili. "Her kills are said to be filled with lots of screaming and a lot of blood."

"Well, frack. Our witness," he looked over at Kili, saw the understanding dawning in his eyes as he remembered what the body had looked like, "that wasn't Rabastan kill, it was Bellatrix's."

Kili shifted then, pushing away from the wall he had been leaning against. "We'll keep digging, of course," he said, moving to lean against the desk beside Desmond. "Rodolphus has always kept pretty much to himself though, always been a man of mystery. He's a ghost. A shadow. He always strikes fast and hard, then is gone. The kills he makes are instant, no evidence is ever left behind, which is how we know he didn't kill Kale. He's also never been one to deliver or issue warnings, and he doesn't normally like to play games."

"Rabastan however loves his games," Logan said, looking over at Harry, " he loves to keep people wondering when and where he's going to strike, likes to tease, too taunt, and like his brother, his kills are fast and hard, instantaneous, and no evidence is ever left behind."

"But as I said earlier, they're both very unpredictable. They sometimes change things up," Logan said. "It's what makes them so damn deadly and dangerous."

"So why me, boys?" he asked. "'Let the games begin', he said just before he left me. He doesn't normally like to play games, and yet he's decided he wants to play with me," his brow rose. "So why am I so special?" his gaze suddenly sharpened, widened as if something had just occurred to him. Which it had, but there was absolutely no way he was going to tell them about it. They'd have a major conniption fit and make damn sure he always had a guard on him.

That was SO not going to happen.

"What is it, Roark?" Kili asked immediately upon seeing his look.

"Nothing. Tris, Logan, Kili, keep digging, see if you can find anything more at all on him and his brother, but be careful. I don't think he'll like it too much if he finds out we're trying to find out everything we can on him and his brother. He likes being the man of mystery too much. Fili, I need you to get back to work on those drop locations. I must know where those ships are coming in. Ardyn, as soon as we get that information, I need your people ready to move."

"They will be."

"Doesn't anything ever phase you, Rory?" he glanced over at Harry. "Either of you?"

"Sure Tyler, but truly not so much anymore. After everything I went through at the Academy, then after everything I've been through since graduation," he shook his head, gave him a smirk, "this is almost like child's play."

"This is way too dangerous to be considered child's play, little brother."

"That's very true, Harry, which is why I said almost," he said, his tone quiet, thoughtful. When he didn't hear any movement from them, he looked up. "Well?! There's work to be done, why are you all just sitting there."

Harry chuckled as he got to his feet. "I think I'll grab Ken and we'll go have a talk with that weapons master that makes Rodolphus and Rabastan's favored weapons of choice."

"Be careful," Roark said meeting his eyes.

"I will be brother, I promise."

"Right, we're gone too." Logan said as he jumped to his feet and hurried from the office, Tristan following with Fili, Kili, Tyler and Jordan.

"You are afraid." Ardyn said softly, making Alexei and Desmond both stop before the door, turning back to look at them as Roark raised a brow. "Aren't you?" he asked, seeing the brow go up and thinking it was at his words, which it wasn't.

"I'd be a fool not to be a little bit afraid, Ardyn," he answered, looking at him. "I may be many things, but a fool I am not. Harry and I dealt with several Terminators on Virgon, we will deal with the Lestranges."

"No…" he said slowly, "that you're not," he went on, hazel eyes studying his face.

"What's wrong Ardyn? Am I throwing you off balance?" he asked, glancing at Alexei and Desmond, both of whom were now leaning against the wall on either side of the doorway, the look in their eyes telling him they had no intention of leaving him alone with him.

"You, Roark Christopher Potter, have been throwing me off balance since you arrived on Aquaria."

Roark suppressed a laugh when the brothers rolled their eyes and acted like they were about to be sick. "Well, we have work to do, Ardyn," he said, getting to his feet, "and it looks like Lexi and Desmond want to have a word with me about something."

"Alright," he rose to his own feet. "I'll be in my office if you need me for anything," he said, moving toward the door, where he suddenly paused, looked back. "Roark?"

"Yes, Ardyn?"

"Could I possibly interest you in having dinner with me tonight?"

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Ardyn. I went down that road once before, and it didn't turn out well at all."

"It's just dinner, Roark," he said.

He hesitated a few microns {seconds}, then said. "Very well, so long as it's just dinner."

"I promise, just dinner. I'll pick you up at your place about seven."

"How about we just leave from here. No sense in me going all the way home just to come back to the city."

Ardyn nodded, "As you wish," he said with a smile. He turned then to leave the office, giving both Alexei and Desmond a smile as he walked out.

"If I didn't know better I'd say that was a look of triumph." Desmond said quietly after the door had slid closed.

"It looked like one to me as well. I hope you know what you're doing, kiddo."

He gave a deep sigh. "So do I, Lex," he said, moving around the desk to the map he'd pinned to the wall of his office, "but we need to do something. We've cleared all the team, found two leaks there, and approximately half of the Detachment, and found several leaks with them, but we still haven't been able to completely clear Ardyn. Nor have we found any definitive proof that says he's our major leak. If he IS our major leak, then he's covered his tracks very well."

A nod from Desmond. "It's true all we have is circumstantial, but we know Riddle is getting information that only a few of us have access too."

Roark nodded. "Then as much as we may not like it, we need to start taking some risks. He's been so careful, we can't expect him to start making mistakes now, though it would be nice if he would."

"Well then, if you intend to put yourself in the line of fire, you'd best be extra careful. It's bad enough Rodolphus has targeted you, let's not give Ardyn a free shot at you if it is him."

"I'm always careful, Lex, and I have several other things on my side."

"What would those be?"

He smiled, leaning up on tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. "Harry, you, Desmond. I have your brothers, and your cousins. I have the entire Durin family watching out for me. I promise, guys, no unnecessary risks, and I will seriously try to not be reckless."

They both smiled at him, nodded. "Fair enough."

cccVccc

Roark was working late in his office, a rare occurrence of late as he was usually sure to be gone by late afternoon, or at the latest early evening. Most times it was to go out to dinner with his brother who, he had been very surprised to learn had not been happy with him at all for his decision concerning Ardyn. They hadn't so much argued, though it had been very close with Roark explaining rather quickly, concisely WHY he had made the decision he had concerning simple dinner dates.

"SIMPLE!" Harry had exploded in disbelief. "Roark Christopher Potter, there is NOTHING simple about having dinner with the man we suspect is our main spy, a man who has decided for reasons of his own that you WILL be his."

Roark had sighed then, sinking down onto his couch as his hands had lifted so that his fingers could begin massaging his temples. Another damn headache had formed. He was really getting tired of all these damn headaches, he had thought as he looked up into his brothers green eyes. "I know, and trust me, brother mine, I AM being very careful about what I say to him, how I respond to some of the things he says to me. I AM not, on ANY level, attracted to him and I really DON'T want him thinking that I am."

Harry moved to sit at his side, his arm coming up to circle his shoulders. "Alright, just promise me you're not going to do anything reckless to try to hopefully get him to make some kind of mistake."

A smirk as he leaned his brother. "I had to promise Alexei and Desmond the same thing, and yes, Harry, I do promise."

"Fine, then. Now come on, let's get you something for that headache, then I think it's time you went to bed so you can sleep it off."

He smiled now as he remembered how Harry had gotten two pain killers into him, then just like when he had been five, he had tucked him into his bed, then sat with him until he had finally fallen into a deep sleep.

Sometimes he would go out to dinner with not only his brother, but the Durin's as well. They didn't like to talk about the case as there was always a chance of being overheard, so they talked about anything else. Then there were his dinner dates with Ardyn, which usually yielded him nothing more than another damn headache.

As the last six sectars {months} had passed, he and the seven Durin's had found all their leaks. There was a total of five men and two women leaking various information to Tom Riddle and his people. What, however, bothered them the most, was that while they had yet to be able to clear Ardyn, they still had not been able to find any definitive proof AGAINST him either. They simply figured he was just that good at covering his tracks, and were yet hoping, sooner or later, he would make some kind of mistake. 'Eventually," Harry had growled after Roark had just finished telling them about the dinner he's had the night before with Ardyn, 'he will make a mistake, we just have to be around when he finally does.'

It was after every 'date' he had with Ardyn, Harry, the three Durin brothers and four cousins would invariably show up at his apartment not long after he arrived home, and soon enough he'd be telling them everything that he and Ardyn had talked about. Also, with each of these so-called dinner dates, Rory told them that his feelings were telling him very strongly that something just wasn't right, but he couldn't tell them specifically what was wrong, only that something was. Ardyn was, he told them, hiding a great deal, but what it could be he just couldn't figure out, and he had tried.

That was, unfortunately, only a part of why he was in his office so late. Riddle had, as of two sectars {months} ago, ordered the deaths of his entire team, and one by one they had begun to fall until all that was left were Harry, the seven Durin's, Tristyn, and himself. The Durin's and Tristin had, on several occasions, had close calls with Riddle's Terminators, but had managed to kill them instead of being killed themselves. Roark thanked all their Gods AND Kobol each time he'd received word on such attempts.

He and Harry themselves however, had no such close calls. Rodolphus and Rabastan, they now knew for sure, were playing with them. Teasing them. Taunting them. He sat back in his chair, turned it to look out the window, thinking about not only all those other problems, but the problem that was Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange as well.

Rodolphus was following him. Just like Rabastan was following Harry. Every time they left headquarters, their apartments, or if they were out in Aquarian City taking care of Riddle's many ventures into the world of crime, the brothers would let them know they were there by letting them catch glimpses of them. In his case, he would feel as if someone was watching him and turn his head to see him leaning against a wall, or a street lamp, one of his knives in his hands, his full lips turned up in a smirking smile, sherry eyes watching every move he made. Harry said, when they spoke about in one or the others apartment later that Rabastan was the same.

It was driving him nuts. Driving THEM nuts.

Roark swore softly because every fracking time he saw him, he would feel his body reacting at the sight of him. The attraction he felt between them was growing, becoming stronger each and every time he saw him. Even now, sitting at his desk, thinking about that damn Terminator, had his heart beginning to race, his blood heating, and his body reacting in ways that it never had before, not even with Mason, whom he'd dated for several sectars {months} on Virgon. Harry had told him he was having the same problem concerning Rabastan. He was SO attracted to him, in fact, he said he was sometimes surprised he had not simply walked up to the man and kissed him until they were both breathless.

Damn them! What the hell was it about Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange that were drawing he and his brother to them like bees were drawn to honey, or moths to flames. Roark smirked suddenly thinking, not a good analogy that, the bees often got stuck in the honey and died there, and the moths often got burned by the fire they flew around. Huh. Maybe that was there plan all along. He would have to share this new thought with Harry when he saw him later.

He turned back to the desk, looking at the papers spread out over it, and sighed deeply. Ah yes. The progress reports. He'd been putting them off for far too long in favor of finding something, anything on Ardyn. Trying to figure out what the hell he was hiding. That he hadn't been able to and had, in fact, found far more inconsistencies between his and Kale's reports, bothered him to no end.

Something was very wrong there as well, but damn if he could figure it out. Tracks had simply been too well covered. Roark sighed deeply, running a hand over his face, his eyes on the reports he was trying to write, and failing spectacularly. He hated fucking progress reports. The sound of his door opening had his head coming up.

"Ardyn," he said, forcing a smile into place as he looked up at him. "Hey Tris, Logan, Ki. Where are the others?"

"Looking into a couple of leads." Logan answered, his gaze shifting to Ardyn, then back. "Harry and Ken are looking into something as well but refused to tell us what it was until they found out if it would be something useful or not."

"Join me for dinner, Rory?" Ardyn asked with a grin, not noticing the look.

"Hey! Why don't the two of join the three of us at the Aquarian? Ki, I'm sure can get ahold of Fili, and I can call Des, Lex and the cousins. You can Harry, Rory, see if he can break free to join us. I've got letters from Dad, Colten, Damien, Dylan, Chris, Rohan and Payton. Kili said Uncle Thorin wrote him and Fili, so there's lots of new letters you haven't read yet."

"Yeah, Harry and I have one from Grandfather and Grandmother as well as one from Aunt Athena that we haven't had a chance to read, but…" here he shook his head. "I really wish I could, Logan," he answered with a grimace, "but I really need to get these reports finished and to the Admiral, your Uncle, and the Council before they all start calling me demanding to know why their progress reports aren't done on time," he glanced at the clock on the wall. "Why don't you all stop by my place about eight hundred centars {hours}. I'll read them then."

"If we don't catch up with you tonight, I'll just bring them in tomorrow for you to read."

Roark gave him a warm smile. "That sounds even better. That'll give me something to look forward to tomorrow. I'll bring Grandfather's and Aunt Athena's letter in with me too."

Logan returned his smile, waved, then turned and left the office with Kili and Tristan. Ardyn chuckled, shook his head. "You know, even after all this time, it still amazes me just how close the Durin's are. I have never seen a family as tight knit as they are."

Roark looked at him, shook his own dark head. "I doubt you ever will."

"So very true. Well, I'm headed home then. Do try to get out of here at a halfway decent time, Rory. You need your rest as much as we do."

"I will, Ardyn. Good night."

"Good night, love," he said, leaving the office, whistling cheerfully.

Roark frowned as his door slid closed. Love? Since when? He'd never given him any kind of hint, or any other sign for that matter that those dinners were anything serious, that he was serious about any kind of a relationship with him, and just what the hell did he have to be so cheerful about? Ah frack, he thought with yet another deep sigh, his eyes lowering to the papers before him on his desk. 'Ah well,' he thought, 'one damn worry at a time.'

cccVccc

A soft chime brought his head up from what he was currently working on. As his door remained closed, he turned to look at his computer, blinking at the time that showed in the right-hand bottom corner.

"Well frack," he muttered, sitting back in his chair. His report to the Council was done, but his report to Admiral Roark, Dacian and Thorin was not. Raising his hand, he rubbed it over his face with a tired sigh, thinking of their lack of progress of late, some of which, he knew, they could lay at the door of their leaks.

They were, of course, doing their best, but the leaks were still managing to get ahold of restricted information, information that had Tom Riddle changing the landing points of some of his more important shipments, as well as their times. Once that started to happen, it made him wonder if maybe they had missed someone, or if perhaps Riddle had managed to bribe someone else. That was always a possibility that got his blood boiling.

He and Fili were still receiving notes hidden in various places, both in their offices, and sometimes they'd find them in their apartments, both in different hand writing. But as time had gone on, their informant's had begun to leave their messages with some of the others in Counter Intelligence.

He'd expected some of the changes, and they themselves had begun to make moves to compensate for whatever changes Riddle made. They had still managed to find out where drops were coming in and shipments going out, which, he'd been informed by a smirking Rodolphus on one of the rare times the Terminator had decided to approach him for a 'talk', had infuriated Riddle. The problem was, as Roark saw it, as Harry and the Durins saw it, that everything had become far too hit and miss of late. Far too much was getting through then any of them liked.

With yet another, even deeper sigh, he reached out to pick up his mug, stood, and went to the sideboard to make himself another cup of tea. He was just returned to his desk when his com pad beeped an incoming call.

Sitting in his chair, he reached out to answer it. "Yes?"

"Lt. Roark, I'm Security Agent Tobias Merchant. I work for the Aquarian. I'm afraid there's been a disturbance here. Would it be possible for you to come down here?"

"Yes, of course," he answered, getting to his feet once again and grabbing the scarlet jacket that lay across the back if his leather chair. "A disturbance of what kind, Agent Tobias?"

"One of your officers, a Lt. Tristyn, has been…injured."

"Injured?" Roark asked, ice seizing his heart and mind. FUCK! "I'll be right there. Have you contacted Lt. Hadrian? How about Captain Fili?"

"Yes sir. Lt. Hadrian said he was on his way and would meet you here. We've tried the others, but Captain Fili, nor Major Alexei were available. We were also not able to contact Captain Desmond, Colonel Jordan, nor Major Tyler. The messages on their com lines said they were unavailable, and Lt. Logan has turned his off."

'He's done what?!' Roark thought in surprise. 'He knows better than that.' "What about Lt. Kili?"

"He's here, Sir, and Captain Ardyn is on his way as well, but as I understand it, he has further to come as he is coming from his house."

"Understood."

cccVccc

Roark arrived at the Aquarian a short time later. Seeing the club's security keeping people back, Roark saw Harry, Kili and Tris right away, and hurried to their side. Kili and Harry knelt on either side Tristyn, both of their hands blood covered, Kili holding an equally saturated pad, pressing it down over the wound as hard as he could to hopefully stop the bleeding.

"Ah hell, Tris, what have you done now?" he asked lightly as he dropped to his knees beside his brother and across from Kili. "Let me see, Ki," he brushed aside Kili's hands, gently lifted the pad to look beneath, hiding his dismay at what he saw. Harry bumped their shoulders lightly, which made him look at him. He gave a very slight nod.

He turned his head then meeting Kili's distress filled brown eyes, looking up as another pad was passed down to them. He lay the thick white cotton pad over the wound as Tristyn's eyes opened, a groan sounding. "Press down hard, Ki. We've got to get this bleeding stopped."

Kili, his face very pale, nodded. "I've been trying to do just that since I came out of the club and found him here. The bleeding just won't stop, Rory."

"I tried to get a closer look at it, but the moment I lifted the pad, blood welled up," Harry told him softly as his hand joined Kili's, pressing down on the wound, earning them another groan. "Sorry Tris, I know it hurt's, but we HAVE to stop this bleeding."

"I know," he rasped. "Glad you two are here now, I can tell you," Tristyn began, his breathing sounding winded as he met Roark's worried gaze. "Rory, lis-"

"Hush. Just relax," he said quietly, looking over at Kili. "You called for medical?"

"As soon as I saw how bad it was," he answered quietly, brown eyes meeting silver and green.

"No, the in…formation…you…wan…ted…" he gasped out.

"Tris," he murmured, "don't try to talk right now. There will be time enough for you to tell-" a tight squeeze to his hand quieted him.

"No…Won't. No…more…time. You…must…lis…ten," his eyes slid closed, and they could see he was trying to gather his rapidly failing strength. "Hid…den…" he gasped, opening his eyes, looking first at Kili, then at Harry and Roark. "Told…Logan…On…disks…Our…leak. Ro…dolph…us, bro…ther, more than we…thought. Don't…trust…him." He tensed then as a strong wave of pain rolled through him, along with his inability to catch his breath. "Ard…yn. Don't…tr-" his eyes slid closed. "Don't give up. None…of…you. Prom…ise…me."

All three of them bent close over him, their hands touching him as they spoke softly. "We won't Tristyn," Kili said in a soft voice. "You have our word of honor."

"We promise, Tris. We'll bring them all down." Harry squeezed his shoulder.

"Riddle, Rodolphus and Rabastan will all be made to pay for their crimes," Roark told him then.

"No. Ro…dolph…us, Ra…bast…an…are…not…the…ones you…need to…worry…about."

"What?"

"Disks. It's…all…on the…disks," he went limp then, and his chest gave one more stuttered move, then went still.

"Tristyn?" Kili breathed, tears filling his eyes. "Gods…no, not again."

"Tris?" Roark leaned down, his ear pressing to the still chest. "Damn it, Tristyn, no!" he cried, as Harry bent to press his own ear to the now still chest, then came up swearing.

Silence fell around them, everyone realizing that the older warrior must have died. Just then, the Detachment Commander, Captain Ardyn, arrived at a run, freezing for a moment as he took in the scene before him.

He moved to where Harry and Roark knelt, seeing that the only Durin present was Kili. Well THAT was a surprise. Where there was one Durin, the others where never far behind. Roark felt hands on his shoulders, heard a soft voice say, "Let him go, Roark."

He saw Kili's head jerk up, tear filled brown eyes narrowing as the most unbelievable flare of fury flashed through them. It really did take a lot to rouse that kind of fury in Kili, but once you did, Kili was ready to kill. Next to him, Harry's head came up as well, the same look of utter fury, and something more in his emerald green gaze as he looked up at Ardyn.

His gaze lowered then, meeting Roark's silver eyes, holding it. Ardyn. Don't trust him. Kili turned his head to look at Harry and Roark, saw the same look in both of their eyes as they both finally broke contact with the other and looked at him. He saw as well, the same dawning realization that he was having. Brown, green and silver met, held. Harry, then Roark gave very small nods, not noticeable to anyone but Kili. That's what Tristan had been trying to tell them. To not trust Ardyn; therefor, they wouldn't. Not that they really ever had.

Shaking his head, he got slowly to his feet, and turned to face the hovering Security Agent. Kili and Harry got to their own feet, each moving to stand on either side of him as Roark asked, "What happened here, Corporal Tobias?"

"We're not exactly sure, Lt. Roark. Lt. Tristyn, Lt. Logan and Lt. Kili came in for dinner, had a couple of drinks. Lt. Kili received a call, and I saw him leave."

"Ki?" Roark turned to look at him.

"It was one of my contacts," he answered quietly, looking at Roark. "He finally called with some information Fili, Tyler and I were looking for. He said he'd tried them first, but both told him to call me, as they were busy with something else. I went to meet him."

A brow went up over emerald eyes. "ALONE, Kili Matthew?" Harry demanded.

Kili nodded. "Yes, Harry, alone. Sorry, I know you both said not to go anywhere alone, but this was our only chance to get this information, and there just wasn't anyone available to go with me."

Roark gave a nod. "Then next time, if there IS a next time, you call me. I'm NEVER too busy to go somewhere with you. Understood?"

Kili nodded, a small smile curving his lips. "Yes sir."

"Or you will call me. Even if I'm doing something, I'll meet up with you, okay?"

Kili gave him a smile, nodded.

"Good," they turned back to Corporal Tobias. "Go on."

"Yes sir. A few microns {seconds} after Lt. Kili left, Lt. Logan also received a call. He spoke to the caller for a few centons {minutes}, then ended the call. He and Lt. Tristyn had a short conversation, in which I heard Lt. Logan promise he'd be careful, that he'd call immediately if he needed any help. Lt. Logan smiled, said he'd see him at work tomorrow, and left. Lt. Tristyn stayed, made a quick call, then ordered another drink. It seemed to me he was waiting for someone. It was nearly another half a centar {hour} before a man, tall, perhaps in his early thirties…In fact, now that I think about it, he LOOKED like a Terminator. He looked around, moved to the table Lt. Tristyn was sitting at, and slid into the chair across from him. He leaned over the table, speaking with him quietly. There was a second man. He entered right behind him, but I didn't really pay all that much attention to him as he moved to the bar, but again, as I think about it, the only time his eyes left the two talking was when he was looking around the club."

Roark tensed. "Dark sable brown hair, sherry colored eyes, dressed in silks and leather?" He saw Tobias nod. "Rodolphus."

"BOTH of them?" Harry asked, and again they saw him nod. Harry turned to look at his brother and Kili. "Rabastan."

Kili's head tilted. "Why would Rodolphus and Tristyn be talking? And what was Rabastan doing there?"

"That's a good question, Ki, but one we aren't likely to get an answer to now."

"And it sounds like Rabastan was keeping an eye on things, as much as watching his brother talk to Tristyn."

Roark shook his head. "Curious. Very, very curious. Just what are those two up to?" He turned his attention back to the Security Agent. "Go on, Corporal."

"As time went on their exchanges seemed to become tense, as if the Lieutenant didn't agree with something that was being said and was arguing with him about it. The one you said was Rabastan seemed to tense, then he pushed himself away from the bar and crossed to the table, taking an empty chair. Tristyn looked at him, nodded, said something to him. The other one, you said his name was Rodolphus?" he saw both Roark and Kili nod. "Well, Rodolphus just kept shaking his head, speaking rather insistently. Once Rabastan joined him, they BOTH spoke to him. None of them seemed to be angry at the other, they just…weren't in agreement. You know what I mean?" he watched as both Roark and Kili nodded. "Finally, they both got up and left."

"Did Lt. Tristyn leave directly after Rodolphus and Rabastan?" Kili asked.

"No, sir. In fact, he ordered another drink. He seemed to be troubled by what the two had been saying to him and looked as if he were trying to figure something out when, a short time later, we saw a woman join him. They spoke for a few centons {minutes}, then left together."

"This woman. Did you recognize her at all? Know her, perhaps?" Harry asked, looking curious.

"No, to either of those questions, Sir, but if you want my opinion, she looked like she might have been a Socialator."

"I see." Roark looked thoughtful.

When none of the three seemed to have anything else, Ardyn nodded. "Thank you, Corporal. That'll be all for now but keep yourself available if we should find we have other questions for you."

"Yes sir," he said, saluted them, then turned and went back into the Aquarian.

Roark turned as he heard the medical crew arrive. Kili shifted closer to him, shivering as he pulled his coat closed around him, and he looked over at him with a comforting smile, slipping an arm around him. "Are you alright?" he asked as they watched them lift Tristyn's body onto a stretcher and lode him into the waiting air car.

"I'm fine, Rory. It's just…we've lost the entire team now, except for us."

"I know," he returned softly. "Ardyn, tell them I'd like an autopsy done as soon as possible."

"I'll go tell them," he said with a nod, moving to speak to them.

"What do we do now?" came softly.

"Do you know anything about these disks he mentioned?" Harry asked him quietly, feeling Roark shiver then, and slipped his arm around him and draw his close to his warm body. "Damn it, Roark, where is your coat?"

Kili shook his head. "No, but it sounds like Logan does. I can go to Logan's if you like?" he looked at each of them.

Roark nodded. "In our office hanging right where I left it, and I would, but keep your senses aware, and be careful. We don't want anything happening to you. I also want you to find out why Logan turned his communicator off."

Kili blanched. "He did WHAT?!" he hissed.

Roark nodded. "Corporal Tobias said he tried to call Logan but that his communicator was turned off."

"That idiot!" Harry snapped out quietly. "He knows better than that! Especially given the circumstances we all now find ourselves in."

"On second thought, I don't want you going anywhere alone. I want you to go into the Aquarian, call Fili. Tell him I don't care what he's working on, I want him to stop, come meet you here, and BOTH of you are go to Logan's. Do NOT talk to anyone, Kili. Are we clear?"

Kili nodded. "What about you two?"

"Ken's asking questions of the customer's that were in the club."

Roark nodded toward Ardyn. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. He's out to seduce me, not hurt me."

Kili smirked. "Still, be careful yourself."

"I will. Go on now."

Kili nodded, and pulling out his communicator, pressed a button. "Hey there, big brother," he said a moment later, turning and moving into the Aquarian. "Have a message from the boss…" his voice drifted off as he entered the club.

Roark wrapped his arms around himself once Kili was inside, bowing his head, dark hair falling forward to cover his eyes as he leaned onto his brothers side, thinking that despite how Tristyn had treated them when they'd first arrived, he had finally accepted him and his command, accepted Harry when he'd seen and acknowledged that they both could, in fact, do the job they had been sent here to do. They had all finally, thanks to Logan, Fili and Kili become friends.

He had sent Kili and Fili to Logan, which now meant they needed to call Alexei, Desmond, Jordan and Tyler. They would need to tell them what had happened. They would then talk to Logan and find out more about these disks Tristyn had mentioned. Hopefully, Logan would know where they were hidden, and they could retrieve the-His head jerked up suddenly, his body tensing as the sure feeling that he was being watched overcoming him.

"Rory? What is it?" Harry asked, knowing that his brother had been thinking about what had happened.

"They're here," he breathed, his silver eyes searching, then zeroing in on the two shadows that stood at the edge of a stone wall not too far from a dark alleyway. Neither shadow moved, and Roark stretched his newly awakened senses, realizing that he was now the owner of a new awareness he'd not been aware he'd had. He also realized he'd used it before without knowing exactly what it was he was using or that, with each use was getting stronger. "There," a tilt of his head had Harry following his gaze, emerald green eyes narrowing when he spotted them.

Suddenly he felt two very strong flares of surprise at his touch from the two shadows who were, even now, leaning against the brick wall. His silver eyes narrowed, and before he knew it he was moving toward the alley quickly, wondering just what the hell this new awareness inside him, was. Knowing Harry was beside him, the two shadows pushed off the wall and moved back into the dark alleyway.

"I want a word with you, Rodolphus," he growled at the Terminator as soon as they had stepped into the alley, smirking when Harry latched on to Rabastan's wrist and drew him off a ways.

The shadow turned. "I'm here. You're here. Talk."

"Just what did Tristyn mean by you not being what you and your brother seemed?"

He shrugged, but obviously, he wasn't going to answer that.

"You know what he meant."

A raised brow and an amused twist of his full lips. "Do I?" he stepped closer, his sherry eyes dark. "Prove it."

Roark gave a growl of frustration. "You know damn well I can't," he stabbed a finger into the hard, muscled chest. "Not yet, anyway. I'm not going to let you get away with this, you know?" he glanced over to see Harry put his hands to Rabastan's chest, give him a push even as Rabastan leaned closer to growl something at his brother.

"You know damn well that I didn't kill Lt. Tristyn, Lieutenant. I kill by contract only. He wasn't my contract, but you, Lt. Roark, are," he shrugged once again. "It's not much of a loss, either way."

"Not much-Gods DAMN you, Rodolphus!" he snarled, suddenly furious. "He was a LIFE! He had a family who loved him, friends that cared about him! How can you be so blasé about his death?!" he glanced again at his brother to see him standing very close to Rabastan, poking a finger into his chest, saw that Rabastan was amused, and shook his head.

He returned his attention to Rodolphus just in time to see several unnamed emotions flashing through those so cold, dark sherry eyes. He gave a shrug. "You live, you die. It is, unfortunately, a fact of life, Roark," he answered, a strange connotation to his tone.

So, Roark thought, looking up into his eyes, he wasn't nearly as unaffected as he seemed. "If you didn't kill him, who did? You and your brother were seen talking to him."

"Sorry, Lieutenant, can't help you there. It's your job to find out who killed him, not mine, and yes…Rabastan and I did speak with him."

"About what?" he demanded, glancing over to check on Harry to find him being very soundly kissed by Rabastan. He heard a soft chuckle and turned his attention back to the man in front of him.

"Seems Basti decided not to wait any longer. As for your Lt. Tristyn, we warned him against looking into things that were none of his business. If you really want to know who killed Lt. Tristyn and Major Kale, Roark" his head tilted slightly back toward the scene, "I suggest you look closer to home."

"Our leak," he murmured.

A shrug as he turned to leave, but paused, looking back. "Something else. Don't think for one moment that your investigation of me, of US has gone unnoticed. It hasn't."

A dark brow rose, lips quirking into a smile. "Who says I wanted it to go unnoticed, Rodolphus? By the way, why do you stay with her when it's obvious you hate the very ground she walks on?"

Again, Roark felt the flare of surprise, right along with a second, even stronger, more powerful feeling of…desire? To his surprise, he felt his own body respond to that feeling, but then the feeling was gone. Shut down as completely as the look that had entered Rodolphus' eyes.

"I strongly suggest, Lieutenant," came that all too cold, all too dead tone, "that you stop looking into my past, before you find something I'll have to kill you for. As for Bellatrix, she will be dealt with when I'm good and ready for her to be."

Roark began to chuckle. "Oh, Dolph," he shook his head saw his surprise at the shortening of his name, "you're already planning to kill me, so what does it matter if I find something you don't want me to know?"

That said, he turned and walked away before Rodolphus could respond, or he himself did something very stupid. It was, as he reached Ardyn, that he felt Rodolphus' eyes boring into his back, and he realized that Harry and Rabastan were nowhere to be seen. He suddenly had a very sure feeling that his brother was going to have a new lover before the night was all said and done.

"There you are, Rory. Where did you go?" he looked around, gave a frown. "Where's Harry?"

"Rodolphus. He headed on home."

"He's here?" he asked, looking around quickly as he slipped an arm around his waist. "You spoke to him?"

A nod as an unexpected feeling of warning and intense dislike flared. Feelings he knew didn't come from him. "He told me neither he or Rabastan killed Tristyn. He reminded me that he and his brother kill by contract only. That I am his contract, and that Harry is Rabastan's. I'm quite sure he does know who killed him," he glanced up to see a flash of…something in Ardyn's eyes, "but he wouldn't tell me. Said it was my job to find out who it was."

"Do you believe him?" he asked as they began to walk. "That he and Rabastan didn't kill Tris?"

"Surprisingly I do," he answered. "Despite his profession, and for whom he works for, there's this feeling that Rodolphus will always tell me the truth, whether I want to hear it or not."

He gave a short nod as they began to walk. "The tech said he'd have his head of department contact us as soon as they have the autopsy report."

"Good," he said, realizing that Ardyn wasn't taking him back to headquarters. "Your apartment?" he asked.

"It's closer, and you're cold. You forgot your coat again."

"I did. It's hanging right where I left it," he said as they continued to walk, sensing they were being followed.

What the hell was going on with him? He wondered. For some reason he couldn't quite understand, he could now sense the feelings of those who followed him, one he knew to be Rodolphus, without reaching too far. To his surprise, Rodolphus seemed to be as confused as he was, questioning, and even more surprising, he felt that Rodolphus was suddenly very worried about something.

About him.

cccVccc

Half a centar {hour} later found them in Ardyn's apartment, each with a glass of whiskey in hand. Roark, not used to drinking anything stronger than a mild, fruity wine, sipped slowly, carefully.

'Be careful with that.' That thought floated to the fore front of his mind. 'You're not used to drinking something so strong. It'll go to your head, affect you all that much quicker.' Which he already knew to be the truth.

"He was the fifteenth of the team to die in the last couple of sectars {month}," he said quietly, looking up from the amber liquid in his glass. "I'm going to have to contact his family tomorrow."

"I'll take care of that for you if you would like."

Roark nodded, "As you wish," he said, his silver eyes on his face. "I need to call Logan, as well as Alexei and the others. I had Kili call his brother to meet him at the Aquarian and take him home. Harry must have found Ken and they headed on back to their apartments."

"That was a good idea. Probably best if Kili's not alone tonight. Though I'd have thought the rest of the Durin's would have joined us there."

"Alexei and Desmond were unavailable, as were Tyler and Jordan. Corporal Tobias said Logan had turned his communicator off-"

"He what?" came back instantly, surprised. "He knows better than that." Damn, he thought, that was a missed opportunity, though he would have had to know where he had gone to send someone after him.

Roark nodded, a frown appearing as his head tilted slightly. "I'll be talking to him about that tomorrow," he said, raising the glass to take a small sip from it. "I think I'm going to send him and Kili home. I'm not going to allow them to be murdered."

An unreadable look entered Ardyn's eyes. "They're warriors, Rory. They know the risks involved in working this kind of investigation."

"Yes, Ardyn, I am well aware of that," he said, the feeling that he should send his two friends home becoming even more certain with every micron {second} that passed. "I'll talk to Harry, Fili, Alexei and Desmond tomorrow when we get into the office. I just feel that I can't let it happen. We grew up together, you know. We've been friends for as long as I can remember. I certainly don't want to have to call Commander Thorin and Sire Bilbo and tell them that their youngest son is dead. Nor do I want to have to call Admiral Roark or the rest of Logan's brothers to tell them they've not only lost Kale, but Logan as well. It would destroy the family."

"Roark, they're a family of warriors, they know—"

"I'm not going to let it happen, Ardyn!" he snarled out furiously.

"Okay, okay," he said, holding up a placating hand. "Tell me what you'd like to do then?"

"I'm not sure right now, not until after I've talked to the others. What I'd like to do is send them home with Tristyn's body. Give Kili all the reports I have ready to give to his Uncle and father as well as the Council." He raised his glass to his lips, sipped, felt the burn of the whiskey all the way to his stomach. There was a sudden, intense feeling that he'd be saving not only Logan's life, but Kili's as well if he did just as he said he wanted.

He didn't understand why he felt this way, and he guessed it didn't matter at this point. He remembered the disks Tristan had said he'd hidden and that Logan knew where they were. 'Don't tell him about those disks,' came the sudden thought from the back of his mind, but he already knew there were a lot of things that were not being shared with Ardyn.

"You do realize that if you send Logan and Kili home, that will leave you with only eight team members. Me, Harry, Fili, Alexei, Desmond, Tyler, Jordan and Ken to deal with Riddle."

"I know," he murmured, thinking Harry, Fili, Lexi, Desmond, Jordan, Tyler, Ken and myself, as well as the two men that Gabriel said was in the inside very close to Riddle. "Still, I'd like to get them off Aquaria."

"You do realize they're more likely to send them back once they've finished reporting."

"Not if I can contrive some way to have them transferred." He stood up, setting his nearly half full glass on the coffee table, and moved to the patio doors. "They've both said they'd like to be posted to a Battlestar. Either to the Galactica or the Solaria with their cousin Roark. I think, if I were to talk to grandfather, to Roark, and if you'd be willing to see what strings you can pull-" he turned, pain filled silver eyes raising to meet hazel. "I know it may not be any safer, but-"

Ardyn moved to him, fingers covering lips to stop any further rush of words. "You don't have to explain yourself, Rory. I'll see what I can do, of course," he studied the face before him. "What about you? Are you alright? I know you've seen death, but have you ever been that close before?"

"No," he murmured, feeling himself being drawn inexplicably closer to him. "I just can't believe he's gone. I mean, we'd just gotten to be friends, and-"

"Rory don't." he murmured, slipping his arms around the slender waist to begin to slowly draw him into his arms. "Don't do this to yourself. This isn't your fault."

"No, I know," he said, raising his eyes to meet Ardyn's very warm gaze. "Ardyn, I-"

"Hush," he breathed, his hand sliding around his neck, into his hair as he lowered his own head, his lips brushing over Roark's, not quite believing this seemed to be working.

Once. Twice. Then on the third press, Ardyn covered Roark's lips completely. They parted slowly to the exploring tongue, hearing the soft moan as hands rose to settle against his chest.

: No.: That whisper came into his clouded mind. : Are you really ready to be with a man that you don't…can't trust? That you're really not even attracted too. : Suddenly, Roark pulled free of the kiss, breaking free of Ardyn's arms around him, his breathing a little uneven.

"No. I can't do this right now," he gasped, his voice husky.

Ardyn nearly swore. Damn this boy's strong will! "Why, Rory? You can't deny you're attracted to me," he said reaching for him the same moment he took a step toward him. He frowned when Roark backed away. "You want me, Rory."

"No I don't…I can't, but I also know this isn't the right time for something like this. I'm also not at all sure I'm ready to take this kind of step for my life. My head is too clouded, and this is the kind of thing that needs thinking about before I let myself be with someone like that." He turned, moved to the door. "I'm sorry, Ardyn, but I need to go. I'll see you tomorrow," he left the apartment at a near run before Ardyn could say another word.

The door slid closed just as Ardyn swore sharply, his whole body shaking with frustration. He'd almost had the brat under him where he could have fucked him senseless. A soft chuckle sounded.

"Well, that went well. The boss won't be happy that you wasted that drug on a failed seduction."

"It wasn't wasted. He's just stronger willed then I anticipated. More of the drug next time will solve that," he snapped, turning to face the man with a furious expression. "What are you doing here, Rodrick?"

"Well, aside from the fact I really hoped you'd succeed so I could take a turn fucking him, I was sent to talk to you. Shame you failed, though. That boy is one tight piece of ass. I'd have loved to make him scream."

"Sit," he snapped, resisting the urge to kill him. Riddle wouldn't be happy if he did as Rodrick was his current fuck toy. "I'll get you a drink. What does Tom want?"

cccVccc

Roark wasn't sure where he was going at first, but then he found himself on the banks of the Aqualeen River, his thoughts running rampant, and no matter what he did, he just couldn't seem to organize them, or to clear his head of his fear, of his worry and concerns of what was happening to him. Of what he had nearly allowed to happen with a man he neither trusted, nor liked very much.

Something about Ardyn's behavior had set off all his warning instincts, and he couldn't figure out why, no matter how much he thought about it. Lifting his head, he looked up at the twin moons of Aquaria. Drawing a deep breath, he released it slowly, watching it turn to a white mist in the cold air. Finally, his thoughts began to organize, turning to what was happening to him. Right now, the biggest thing seemed to be this strange ability to sense the emotions, especially if they were strong, of those around him. Desmond had called it empathy, and it seemed to him as the sectars {months} had passed, the ability had only become stronger.

Well, worrying about it now wasn't going to get him anywhere, came the thought. All it's going to do is upset you more, and the last thing he needed was to be upset more. He sighed, thinking now he should just go home. Maybe fix himself something to eat. Not, mind, that he was at all hungry. Perhaps he should think about checking on Harry, but the thought of finding his brother in bed with Rabastan had him blushing. No, he'd just talk to Harry tomorrow.

Roark turned, began to walk toward his apartment. Since food didn't seem to appeal to him, perhaps he'd take a long hot shower…Hum…of the two, the shower sounded the better idea as he had begun to shiver. Then after his shower, he pulled his uniform jacket closed, he'd make himself a nice mug of either tea, or hot chocolate.

cccVccc

Roark stepped out of his shower, feeling physically refreshed and warmer. His mind was much clearer, though his mental and emotional thoughts were still a mess. After drying himself, he grabbed his robe from the hook beside the door…which slid open at his approach, pulling the soft velour on over his naked body. Starting down the hall, he pulled the sides closed, tying the tie to keep the robe closed.

Just as he passed his bedroom door, the feeling hit him, and he went still. He'd felt this feeling before. In fact, the only time he felt anything like this was when… His heart seemed to have a mind of its own by picking up its beat, his body warming as desire began to stir. He drew in a deep breath, released it…

"Do you plan to stand in the hallway all night, Roark?" came his usual, matter of fact, cool tone of voice.

He moved, entering the living area of his apartment to see him by the fireplace, where he'd built up the fire to take the chill out of the room. He was, Roark saw, dressed as he usually was, the black vest, to his surprise, hanging open to give him a glimpse of several knives.

Watching Roark's eyes move over him, Rodolphus had to smirk. "There are also knives at each wrist, in each boot, and one at the center of my back."

Roark's eyes rose to meet Rodolphus', a dark brow raising. "Well, that's unusual," he said, feeling his nerves begin to tingle as he moved closer.

Rodolphus' brow rose in answer. "How so?"

"Unless I'm not very much mistaken, I hear amusement in your voice."

There was a soft, deep chuckle from him. "That is a possibility," he said, turning to pick up two glasses. "Drink?"

Roark drew his hands from the pockets of his robe to take the glass. Their fingers brushed, and this time he wasn't at all surprised by the flare of lust that moved through him. He raised the glass to sip, brow raising once again as he watched Rodolphus' eyes move over him in slow perusal before meeting his own.

"Umm…brandy. Ardyn gave me whiskey, well aware I wasn't one to drink anything stronger than a light fruity wine. It didn't take me long to figure out his intention was to seduce me, especially as he kissed me," he sipped again, his eyes on Rodolphus' handsome face.

He frowned deeply, an unnamed emotion flashing through his sherry eyes. "I am NOT Ardyn, Roark."

"No," he said, bending to set his glass on the coffee table, "that you are not, nor would I ever dare to suggest that you were." He moved to stand before the fireplace, holding out chilled hands to the warmth as he stared down at the flames, lost in thought.

"What are you thinking about so hard, Roark?" he asked quietly, drinking from his glass, watching him closely.

"That I don't like, nor do I trust him," he answered, raising his eyes as he turned to face him. "Yet you…a Terminator, one who has been contracted to kill me, who is working for my worst enemy…The man who murdered my parents. I find myself not only liking but trusting." He took a step toward him, feeling the sudden intense desire to be close to him. Drawn to him as he had never been drawn to anyone else. "Why is that, Rodolphus?" he asked in a near whisper. "Why do I not only like you, but trust you?"

"Perhaps because you know I will never lie to you," he answered, setting his own glass aside now. "You can't say the same about the Captain. HE has been lying to you since you arrived here."

"Hum…very true," he said, studying him. "So," a pause, "why are you here, Rodolphus?" came softly, with a hitch to his breathing when Rodolphus stepped closer to him.

"I came with the intention of giving you a second warning, of issuing a threat stronger than the first one I gave you," he replied, sherry eyes meeting silver, seeing the growing desire, and something else…something he knew he wasn't going to like once he figured out what it was he was seeing.

"And now?" Gods! He sounded so breathless.

He reached out then, sliding an arm around Roark's waist, drawing him closer against him until their bodies touched. He bent his head, lips brushing over Roark's, which parted immediately on a soft gasp when fire flared through-out his body at the touch.

"Now, all I find myself wanting to do is fuck you senseless, as my brother is no doubt doing to yours as we speak" he told him, his voice deep, husky, taking advantage of the gasp that followed by taking his lips completely, his tongue invading, conquering, thoroughly exploring that hot, wet space.

Roark moaned, pressing closer still, his hands sliding under the black leather vest, up the hard, muscled chest beneath. His eyes slid closed when he felt Rodolphus' other hand on his neck, right arm wrapping tighter around him, drawing him even tighter against him.

Then, slowly, Rodolphus drew out of the kiss, raising his head a fraction, his breathing nearly as fast as Roark's was. "Roark. Look at me," he demanded, his voice made deeper with desire, and something else that Roark couldn't identify.

Roark opened his eyes, meeting Rodolphus' lust dark sherry gaze, reading the desire for him there, as much as he felt it when his hard length pressed against him.

"Fuck!" he swore sharply. "That son of a bitch! He drugged you!"

"What?" he asked, blinking up at him, surprised. "I don't feel drugged. How do you know?"

"Your eyes, number one. Number two, as much as I want to believe this," his hand slid down to rub over the hard ridge tenting his robe, "is because of me-"

"Let me guess," he breathed on a deep moan, Rodolphus' hand on his cock sending bolts of fire through him. "An aphrodisiac." He leaned up to press his lips to the throat before him, slipping up to nibble on his earlobe.

Now it was Rodolphus' turn to give a shiver, a moan escaping him. "Without knowing exactly what he gave you…but given the reactions I'm seeing? I'd say that's certainly one of its effects. Riddle has developed a new aphrodisiac with a pleasure enhancer added to it. Its main purpose was to cloud the mind, then to lower inhibitions enough so that the person who used it could seduce the other without a fight. Then several hours of very intense pleasure will follow, despite the wishes of the victim."

"The whiskey," he murmured, his fingers moving to begin to unbutton Rodolphus' black silk shirt. "I didn't drink very much of it, so-"

Rodolphus covered his hands, stopping them from moving further. "No, perhaps not, but doubled with the fact he mixed it with the whiskey, there's enough of it in your system to cloud your judgement. I refuse to take advantage of you in a drugged state."

"My judgement isn't clouded, Rodolphus," he said, pulling his hands free. "If it were, I'd still be at Ardyn's, very likely in his bed, or-" he broke off.

Or dead.

He had no idea where that thought came from, but once it had surfaced…he lowered his head to hide his eyes. Fingers slipped under his chin, lifting his face. "He hasn't shown any inclination of wanting to kill you. Seduce you? Yes. Fuck you? Yes. Kill you? No. Not yet, anyway. You aren't even sure he's your main leak."

"That's all true, but if he is-" he broke off, shook his head. "Can we not talk about this right now?" he asked, finishing quickly with the buttons of his shirt. He grinned up at him. "There's something else I'd MUCH rather be doing with you right now."

"Oh? What would that be?" he asked with a grin of his own.

Roark slid his hands up over his chest, his fingers twining through the soft, dark hair that covered him like a forest, heard him gasp when first fingers, then palms moved over hardened nipples.

"Roark-"

"You said," he began, his hands now sliding up over his shoulders, then down his arms, pushing both shirt and vest off, "that you wanted to fuck me senseless? Do you still?"

By way of an answer, Rodolphus wrapped his arms around him, drawing him back against him, taking his lips in a hard, deeply passionate kiss. Roark moaned, his arms sliding back up around his neck, lips parting, tongue moving to meet, to duel with his. He felt himself being lowered until he lay before the stone hearth, Rodolphus coming down over him, breaking the first kiss, only to begin another, pulling free of that one moments later to begin nibbling a path over his jaw, to his neck.

Roark's head tilted, giving him more room, gasping sharply as Rodolphus' teeth nipped at a particularly sensitive spot just below his ear, then he closed his lips over it, sucking hard, and Roark knew he'd have a bruise mark there come the morning. He also realized he just didn't care. He had never wanted someone as much as he wanted Rodolphus Lestrange at this moment.

"Rodolphus," he moaned, "please," he moved his hands, sliding them down over his back, feeling the slight raised ridges. Scars.

Rodolphus moved, capturing his hands, lifting them over his head. "Don't move them," he growled, sliding his fingers down velour covered arms, over his shoulders then he slid them under the edges of the robe, which had begun to come apart. He bent, pressing his lips to Roark's throat, then began to move down, pushing the robe open further as he went, placing nipping, sucking kisses to the skin he exposed.

"Oh!" Roark gasped as teeth closed on his left nipple, biting gently at the hard nub, then laved it. He arched up as Rodolphus then closed his hot mouth over it to suck. "Oh yes," he moaned. "That feels so good."

"So very responsive," he rasped, moving to the right nipple to give it the same treatment. "You're so sensitive to touch," he breathed once again, sucking at the hardened nub, chuckling when the man beneath him gave a deep moan, his head moving on the rug. "More, Roark?"

"Yes," he moaned. "Please Gods, more. All."

Rodolphus moved again, lips sliding down the center of his chest, his hands releasing the tie of the robe, spreading it open, before sliding his hands down Roark's sides, his hips and legs, to knees. He rose then to his own knees, gently pushing the legs he now knelt between apart, his passion darkened sherry eyes moving over the body spread so invitingly before him.

"By all the Gods, Roark, you are absolutely gorgeous," he rasped. "I don't think I've ever seen a man as beautiful, or as responsive as you are."

Roark sat up just then, hands settling on the hard, heavily furred chest, his fingers moving to pinch and pull at Rodolphus' hard nipples, smiling at the deep moan he received in reply to that move. He leaned in, his mouth closing over one, feeling Rodolphus' fingers in his hair even as his hands began to move down.

Reaching the band of the leather pants, he unbuckled the weapons belt, and as he moved to the left nipple, he dropped the belt with the holstered high-powered laser pistol, and several of his knives on the edge of the hearth beside them. The fire popped, crackled as flames ate at the wood. Rodolphus pulled Roark's head back, his passion darkened eyes meeting the bright silver. He bent, taking those red, already passion bruised lips, both moaning deeply as, like the fire in the fireplace, they both burned hot, so too did their desire to possess, to own each other.

Leather edges parted, allowing Roark to slip his hand inside. Rodolphus' body gave a jerk as warm fingers wrapped around him, began to stroke. He broke the kiss with a gasp of pleasure. "Gods! That feels good!"

"My," came his deep, husky voice as he looked up at him, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes, "what a big…pistol you have."

Amusement flashed in sherry eyes. "Are you talking about my actual pistol, or my cock?"

A chuckle. "Both," he answered. "You, Rodolphus Corvus Lestrange are one very handsome, even more dangerous man."

"So are you, Roark Christopher Potter, and neither of us means that in the literal sense right now."

"No, not right now. I want this," he gave a stroke to the hard, long thick cock his hand was wrapped around, "inside me." Roark pushed the leather pants down.

"Soon. First, there is something that I need to ask you. Have you ever had sex?"

"No. Until now, I've never wanted too," he answered, looking up to see the surprise in his eyes, and had to grin. "Does my being a virgin really shock you that much?"

"Yes. You were seeing someone on Virgon, I just figured you two had had sex."

Roark shook his head. "No. Sure, we played around a bit, but I just never wanted to be with Mason like this."

"Because you suspected he was selling you out," came his statement.

"No, actually, it wasn't. I didn't know he had been bought and had become a spy until it was nearly too late to-Let's not talk about this right now either. We have much better things we could be doing then to dredging through bad memories."

"We're enemies here, Roark," he said, thumbs moving over his passion flushed cheeks. "I've been contracted to kill—"

Fingers settled against his full lips to silence him. "What we are, or are not, isn't relevant right now."

"Then what is?"

"Right now. This moment. Despite who and what we are, we have been drawn together, obviously deeply attracted to each other since the moment we locked eyes on each other." A grin. "I've never wanted to throw caution aside, never wanted to say to hell with the consequences like I do now."

"I'm married, and I've had other male lovers."

A smile. "Good. At least one of us will know what he's doing then."

Rodolphus chuckled softly as he got to his feet. "For a novice, you're not doing too badly," he held out his hands as he stepped out of his leathers, leaving him naked.

Roark raised a brow. "You were planning on this happening, weren't you?" he asked, surprised that he hadn't noticed that he had been barefoot.

"Not so much planning, as hoping that you actually wanted me as much as I wanted you."

"Obviously, I do," he slipped his hands into his, let himself be pulled up and back into his arms, lips already parting as Rodolphus bent to take advantage of what was so willing being offered to him, the kiss deep, passionate.

He wasn't completely cognizant of how they got to his bedroom, barely aware they'd even moved until he felt himself being lowered onto his bed. He was breathless from Rodolphus' kisses, his body hot as Rodolphus broke their current kiss, moving between his legs and backing him up the bed until he lay against his pillows.

"I'm going to fuck you, Roark Potter," he growled. "Fuck you so, SO deep, you'll feel me in you all day tomorrow. Stop me now if you're going too, because once I get inside you, I won't stop."

"If only for tonight, I want you, Rodolphus Lestrange. If only for tonight, I'm not a Colonial Counter Intelligence Officer. Tonight, I'm just a man, and I'll have no regrets."

"Nor will I," Rodolphus said, "because tonight I'm not the Terminator who's been hired to kill you. Tonight I'm just a man who wants you so very much, a man who wants to make your first time something you will never forget."

Roark grinned, reached out for his night stand, pulled open the drawer to reach inside and pull out a small plastic bottle, handing it to him. "I think you're going to need this then."

Rodolphus took the bottle, popped the cap, poured some of the slick liquid onto his fingers, spread it over himself. "Umm…" he sniffed as the smell reached his nose, "vanilla and sandalwood," he poured more onto his fingers, closed the cap and tossed the bottle onto the night stand.

He bent, brushed a kiss to his lips, catching his gasp as his fingers moved to touch him, to prepare him. He kissed him deeply, passionately as he eased first one finger, then a second into the tightness of his ass, beginning to open him for his cock.

Roark pulled free of the kiss a few moments later, to give a cry as Rodolphus finally began to press into him, to begin to ease into him with gentle thrusts, stretching him open further then his fingers had. "Rodolphus," he moaned. "Oh…GODS."

"You're so damn tight," he moaned as the heat he slid into opened to him slowly with each thrust deeper. "So tight and so hot you're nearly burning me," he breathed, watching those bright silver eyes for any sign of pain, but he saw only the discomfort.

"You're so big," he moaned, then cried out as Rodolphus thrust a bit deeper into him. "Oh yes, I can feel you stretching me open to take you."

"Is there any pain?" he asked in a deep, husky voice, his breath catching as he thrust, easing still deeper into him.

He shook his head, his hips shifting, arching off the bed as the thrusts and withdrawal into and out of him began to come easier. "No. There's just a slight burn each time you go deeper. I never…GODS!" he cried, his back arching, head pressing back into his pillow. "Never thought this could feel so good. Rodolphus, just TAKE me already!" he cried, his hands reaching up for him.

Take him he did. Thrusting the last few inches to bury himself completely. He caught the reaching hands as he withdrew from him. Twined their fingers as he thrust in, heard his cry, felt him arch up into him again as he then set up a steady rhythm of thrusts in and out of him.

"Yes…oh Gods, yes. That feels so very good," he moaned, his head moving on his pillow as Rodolphus came down over him, pressing their joined hands into the pillow beside his head, sweat beginning to form as Roark began to move, to match his thrusts deeply into him, then his withdrawals.

"You are so beautiful," was moaned deeply as the thrusts began to come faster, "so very beautiful in your passion, Roark."

"So are you," he moaned, then gave a cry as the thrusts into him came faster, so much harder, deeper if that was possible. "Rodolphus!"

"That's it, Roark!" he lifted his head to look down into that passion flushed face. "Let yourself go! Feel me in you! Take me into you! More, Roark!" he groaned roughly his sherry eyes dark with his desire. "Gods, I must have more of you! Give me all of you!"

Roark didn't know or understand what was happening. All he knew at that moment was that his body was growing tighter the faster, the harder, the deeper he was thrust into. His legs lifted to wrap around those powerfully pumping hips, his hands tightening on the ones twined with his. His head thrashed on his pillow, strands of midnight hair, wet with sweat, stuck to his forehead.

"I…Gods…It's so, so good…" he moaned. "Fuck me!" he screamed then as the tension from their passion grew even tighter. "Gods, Rodolphus! Fuck me harder! Fuck me faster! Fuck me deeper! Just…so…Gods, so good…Yes! Fuck me!"

Faster. Harder. Seemingly deeper. Taking. Owning. Demanding. "Come to me!" he rasped. "Now, Roark! Come for me!"

"RO…DOLPH…US!" His scream of release echoed around his bedroom the same moment Rodolphus cried out, his hot thick seed flooding the body beneath him.

cccVccc

Roark woke to a cool hand on his shoulder. He sighed, snuggling his head deeper into his pillow, wanting nothing more than to deny it was morning, to wish that Rodolphus was still beside him, though he knew he was long gone from the cold emptiness beside him. A soft chuckle sounded, and he rolled over, wincing when more than a few of his muscles protested such a move.

"Wakey, wakey, little brother," came Harry's deeply amused voice as he sat on the edge of his bed, smirking down at him.

Rodolphus had taken him twice more, the passion of the first time just as hot, if not hotter than the last. Neither of them seeming to be able to get enough of the other. One night, they had said. "If this one night is all I can have of you," he said gruffly into his ear as he pounded into him with quick, deep, powerful thrusts, "then I'll make it a night that neither of us will ever forget."

"Roark."

He opened his eyes, saw both the grinning face of his brother, and one of his best friends, where the other was he wasn't sure he wanted to contemplate. "Harry. Logan," he murmured. "What are you doing here?"

"Good morning, Roark. I'm here because it's nearly two centars {hours} past sun rise and when you didn't come into headquarters at your normal time, nor did you answer your com, we got worried."

"I was sleeping, Logan, which I DON'T do most nights," he answered, as he sat up, a frown curving his brow, "Who's we?" he asked, running his fingers through his hair as a deep chuckle sounded, and he turned to find Kili coming into his bedroom from the hall. "What?" he growled at them as all three grinned wickedly.

"Someone had a VERY good night by the looks of him." Kili said, chuckling as Roark's face flushed.

"So, who was he?"

"Who was who?"

Two pairs of fingers touched the side of his neck. "The man who gave you this, of course." Kili said. "Harry has one to match on his neck, but he hasn't answered us either as to who gave it to him."

"Really not any of your business," Harry growled at them then, his own face flushed as he remembered the night of passion he had just spent with Rabastan. Dear GOD but that man could fuck. He'd thought he's known pleasure before but that was NOTHING on what Rabastan could make him feel.

Roark felt his face heat even more, his hand raising to cover the mark. "Get out of here, all of you, so I can go take a shower and get dressed. Can I assume Fili, Lexi, Desmond, Ty, and Jordan are in my living area?"

"Yes, and when they see that, just like when they saw Harry's, they're going to want some answers from both of you," he said. "Kili and Fili told them about Tristyn, after, that is, they got done reading me the riot act for turning off my com last night."

Roark frowned at him. "Just why DID you turn it off?"

"I was looking into something where the sound of a com ringing would have gotten me into some rather serious trouble."

A brow went up. "Alone, Logan Adrien?"

"Yes, Rory, I was alone."

"You know better than that, Logan," Harry told him with a slight frown as he looked at him. "With Tristyn's death, we've lost the entire team but for us. It's dangerous to work alone."

"I know, and as I told my brothers and cousins, and as I'm going to tell the both of you, I can't promise you I won't do it again." He raised a hand when Roark opened his mouth. "Don't, Roark. Please, just…don't. We all know-"

"Harry! Logan! Kili! Is he awake yet?!" Desmond called out.

Logan looked back over his shoulder. "Go tell them I'm awake, and that I'm fine," Roark said with a chuckle.

"I just bet you are." Kili teased him. "Fine, that is."

"Brat," he said with a chuckle, smacking a hand to his chest. "Tell them we'll talk after I've had a shower and gotten dressed. I don't suppose I can talk one of you into making me some breakfast?"

They looked at each other, then at him, one blonde and one dark brow raising as one. "Maybe. Will you tell us who your lover is?"

"What happened last night isn't ever going to happen again, so you can't exactly term him as my lover," he raised a hand to stop both their replies. "Yes, I will be telling you all everything."

Logan and Kili looked at each other again, then back. "Rory, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Kili," he answered with a smile. "Go on now. I'll join you all shortly. Harry, stay just a moment." Once the door slid closed behind the cousins, he look at his brother as he slid out of bed reaching for his robe. "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Perfectly fine, and no, he didn't, but sweet God can that man fuck. I thought I knew what pleasure before this, but that was nothing on what Rabastan made me feel. What about you, my brother?" his brow went up. "He didn't hurt you?"

Roark shook his head. "Other then the first time and only briefly at that, no, he didn't. Harry, I'm REALLY not sure we should have done this."

"Neither am I but as I told Rabastan last night, I will not have any regrets. I wanted him as much as he wanted me."

"I told Rodolphus the same. Go join the others, I'll join you as soon as I've had a shower."

cccVccc

"That son of a bitch!" Logan snarled. "I'll kill him!"

"Logan." Alexei looked at him, and he quieted. "Rory," he turned back, "was Rodolphus able to tell you what drug it was specifically?"

Roark set his empty plate on the coffee table, picked up his mug, sipped his coffee. "It doesn't have a name as far as he knows. All he could say for sure was that it was something new. Something that clouded the mind enough and lowered the inhibitions so that the person didn't fight what was happening, an aphrodisiac pleasure enhancer mixture. I'm pretty sure Ardyn gave it to me in a glass of whiskey. Which really was a good thing as I never was very fond of whiskey, and therefor didn't drink very much of it."

"That's true."

"So, Rodolphus took advantage-"

"Rodolphus didn't take advantage of anything," he snapped, his eyes narrowing on his friend.

"Roark, we're just worried about you," Fili said from where he stood by the fireplace.

"Exactly," Kili spoke up. "That you trust Rodolphus Lestrange is a surprise, as is the fact you've let him into your bed," he shook his head, then turned it to look at Harry with a narrowed gaze. "Rabastan? Seriously?"

Harry shrugged. "We've been deeply attracted to each other from the moment he entered my apartment. There's something about him, something under the surface of that jokester, yet cold deadly exterior he shows everyone. I found I couldn't resist the draw, and decided to do something about it last night, and boy was it the right decision to make. I have no regrets sleeping with him.'

"I just hope," Desmond said, "that you both know what you're doing. If you're wrong about him, if you happen to be wrong about Rabastan…this could backfire on both of you big time. We really don't want to see either of you hurt, or worse, killed."

Alexei sat forward in his chair. "You know who, and you know WHAT they are. Who they work for, and what they've been contracted to do."

"Just as they know who we are, and what we have been sent here to do. We decided last night to do something about how we felt with the both of them, and as Harry said he has no regrets, I also have no regrets that it happened, or that it was him it happened with. As Harry was with Rabastan, we've been deeply attracted to each other since that first night he showed up in my apartment, and we wanted each other last night. Okay, so maybe having sex, and sleeping with him wasn't such a good idea, but…GODS, the sex we did have…"

"No KIDDING," Harry breathed.

Jordan raised an eyebrow, amusement in his eyes. "That good, was it?"

A grin as silver and emerald green eyes took on a look none of them had ever seen in either of them before. "It was WAY better than good. If he could have kill me with pleasure alone, I'd be dead right now."

"Same here," Harry said, desire unexpectantly stirring as he thought about the night just past. "I've had two other lovers, but neither of them ever roused in me what Rabastan did."

"Ohh…" Kili breathed. "That IS good."

The brothers and cousins looked at Kili, who shrugged. "What? Haven't we all dreamed about having sex so good we think our partners may kill us by pleasure alone? I know I do, and that I just haven't found anyone who I think will give that to me yet."

"As true as that may be Ki," an understanding smile from Alexei, "we need, I think, to remind them to be careful. You hear me, Rory? Harry? I know you said it was just for the one night, but you also need to think about this. Once the kind of passion you're both talking about is awakened, it is very hard to resist, or to deny for very long."

"Agreed," Tyler said, worry reflected in his eyes, "and I think you and Rodolphus," his head turned, "and you and Rabastan are all fooling yourselves if you believe it's going to be just the one night. That kind of desire isn't going to burn itself out in one night, or in several nights for that matter."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Roark said, giving them all a smile as he finished his coffee. "Believe it or not guys, I AM being careful, and though it may not seem like it now, I do know what I'm doing."

"Double for me."

"Then enough has been said," Desmond said, picking up their plates as Roark stood, stretched, then followed him into the kitchen with his empty mug.

"So what are we going to do about Ardyn?"

"I really don't know, right now," he answered as they left his apartment. "We could arrest him, bring him in for questioning, but everything we have is still just circumstantial, and such a move feels wrong to me," he turned after locking his door and setting the alarm. He froze when he felt someone watching him, felt Harry do the same beside him. Knowing immediately who it was, he turned, looked around, trying to spot him, a smirk twisting his lips. Harry, with a narrow eyed gaze doing the same.

"The Lestranges?" Jordan asked as silver and green eyes locked on the shadowy dark alleyway across from his apartment between two other buildings. They followed his gaze, saw them both step into the light, smirks twisting their lips as twin sable brows rose, sherry eyes locked on them. "You four are playing a very dangerous game, and it's one that could get one, or all of you of you killed."

"Perhaps." Roark turned away, not acknowledging the assassin who'd been in his bed last night, though his body began to thrum with awareness. "Let's go."

"Rory—"

"I know, Logan," he said quietly. "Please, just trust us. However wrong this seems to you, Harry and I…there's just something…"

"Hum…and what that something is neither of us knows. We simply know what we know."

Logan studied each of them carefully, then nodded. "Alright. When you figure it out, do be sure to share it with the rest of us."

"You'll be the first to know, Logan." Roark told him, a promise in his voice if left unsaid.

"So why do you feel arresting him would be wrong?" he asked. "He's been lying to us. He drugged you."

"Yes, he has, and he did, but it took Rodolphus, a Terminator and our enemy, to tell me that. We need to have proof, and we just don't have it. Tristan said there were disks. That you knew where they were."

Logan nodded. "As none of these guys would allow me to go alone, we stopped on our way to your place. Both the disks were gone."

"I should hope not. It's dangerous for any of us to go anywhere alone, and of course they were," he sighed turning his head to look at him. "Do you have any idea what was on either of those disks?"

He shook his head. "All he would say was that he'd found something out on our leak but didn't want to discuss it in a place where we could be overheard. Ki, do you remember if he said anything else?"

"He really was being very careful about the whole thing, which neither of us could blame him for." He frowned suddenly, an odd look in his eyes.

"I know that look, little brother." Fili said. "What did you just think of?"

"I remember he said we'd be surprised by some of the information. Logan had gone to get us drinks. He also said we'd be shocked. That he's done far more then we could ever imagine."

"Well, THAT doesn't sound good," Harry muttered.

"No, it doesn't. So, I don't suppose he said anything to either of you about Rodolphus and Rabastan not being what they seemed."

"He did, but again, he wouldn't explain. Said something about it being safer for him, not us. It seemed to me he was protecting them for some reason, but for the life of me, I can't figure out why he would." Kili looked over at him. "Is that why you trust them? Rodolphus and Rabastan, I mean?"

"Partly, though there's more to it. He's never lied to me, number one. I can't explain it, but every time we see each other there's this…feeling…A feeling that there's so much more then what he lets anyone see."

"It's the same with Rabastan," Harry said softly. "There is just this very strong feeling that they're both hiding, that we aren't seeing their TRUE selves."

"And that we won't until this is over." Roark gave a deep sigh. "I guess I have no choice then. I have an idea, but you, nor Logan, aren't going to much like it."

"Why?" came warily, turning his head to look at him. He was almost afraid to know what this idea may be, though he was almost sure he already knew what his best friend was planning.

"Because it involves sending you and Kili home, just as I told Ardyn I would. Though not for the reasons I implied. Not completely, anyway."

"What does sending us home have to do with anything?" Logan asked, a scowl back in place.

"I'll explain, but not on the street. Now that our offices are secure, we'll talk there."

"Fine, but it had better be good."

"Logan, Rodolphus told me before he left this morning that there has been a hit called out on you. He also said the order did not come from Riddle."

"Rabastan told me that he had heard a hit had been ordered on Kili, and again, the order did not come from Riddle," Harry told them, looking over at Kili.

"Ardyn!" Fili hissed furiously.

"He's killed one Durin, why not make it three, or even more if he can get away with it. If he could get away with one, why not go for all of you? Only it's not happening. I'll be damned if I let it."

"You're not the only one." Alexei growled furiously.

cccVccc

"Hello, Grandfather," he said, shifting in his chair to face the com screen with a warm smile. "I was going to write but decided that this would be much quicker. Time is just too short as it is. Harry would be here to talk to you too, but we got a lead that he needed to follow through on."

"That's alright, I'll try to give him a call later this evening. We received news of Lt. Tristyn's death, Rory. Are you and your brother alright?" he asked, worry for his youngest grandson obvious in his voice and on his face.

It was mid-afternoon on Aquaria, a couple days after Tristyn's death and the incident with Ardyn, and this had been the first chance he'd had to call after the meeting with the Durin's, then he and Harry calling Admiral Roark, Commander Thorin, Dacian, Gabriel and Raphael to explain the current plan. Then there'd been yet another meeting, this one with Ardyn in the office, all of them being very careful to hide their feelings, to watch their tone of voice, and their words.

"Roark."

He started. "Sorry, Grandfather. I was thinking about the last couple of days, and yes, we're alright."

"Has the Chief Medical Officer found out anything yet?"

"There was nothing out of the ordinary that he could tell. His report says Tristyn simply bled to death, but…I don't know…There was something in his eyes…something…wrong. Harry agrees with me, but neither of us can figure what it was we were seeing."

"Do you suspect poison? Or is it something else entirely?"

"We suspect both actually, but there wasn't any trace of poison in his blood work. We have, however, discovered there are several new substances available here that leave no traces centons {minutes}, or even microns {seconds} after use." One of which was used on me by your former Strike Commander, he wanted to tell him, but didn't. Not yet. "Which leads me to part of the reason I'm calling."

"I gather you've come up with a plan?"

"We've come up with something, but we need some help. Harry and I spoke with Roark, Thorin, Dacian, Gabriel and Raphael yesterday, but, for appearances sake, they've elected not to get involved."

"If they've decided not to get involved, then your plan must include Logan and either Fili or Kili."

"Logan and Kili. We sent them home with Tristyn's body this morning."

"I see," he said, looking thoughtful. "What do you need this to look like, Rory?"

"We need this to look like we're getting them off Aquaria for good. We need something looked into there, and we can't trust Ardyn," he saw his father's expression change. "I'm sorry, Grandfather, but we believe he's our main leak here."

"And therefore, is not only Kale's murderer, but Tristyn's as well."

"I'm afraid so."

"You think the proof you need may be here on Caprica?"

"We honestly don't know. Christopher was already investigating some things, but…Ardyn knew that Logan knew about the disks Tristan had made, containing information about our leak. Chris could use his help. Also, both Logan and Kili were working with Tristyn on the master disk of Riddle's Terminator's, including all the current information they'd managed to find on Rodolphus and his brother. He-" he broke off when his grandfather paled abruptly. "Why Grandfather, what is it?"

"Rodolphus and his brother. Would that be Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange?"

"Yes."

"They're there? On Aquaria?"

"They are. Rodolphus is Riddle's top Terminator, his left-hand man, while Rabastan is running a clear second to his brother with Rodolphus' wife Bellatrix coming third," he answered, searching his grandfather's face. "Grandfather, just what do you know of Rodolphus and Rabastan?"

"Do you remember that platinum mine robbery just over four yahren {year} ago?"

A frown. "Vaguely. Why do you ask?"

"There were actually six people involved in it. We only captured four because the fifth and sixth involved escaped. Both had dark brown hair, sherry colored brown eyes, tanned angular faces, and they were both tall at over six feet. Both men were probably in their late twenties to early thirties, bodies very lean, lithe, and strong. Now that I think about it, both kind of look a little bit like you except for the eyes and hair."

"Hum…I suppose they do a bit, though they are quite a bit taller than me, and far more muscled than I am."

"Well, you may look a bit alike, but your personalities are completely different. They were both very hard, cold…and deadly. They took out several security officers, though, admittedly, neither of them ever struck out at a Colonial Warrior on their way out. After their escape, we never found any trace of either of them. Roark and Thorin couldn't find him either, and they sent their best trackers after him. They simply…vanished."

A wry grin. "Well, that certainly sounds like the Rodolphus and Rabastan we have here, ghostly shadows that they are," he said. Except for the cold part, he thought, the memory of their passion two nights past still fresh in his mind, flooding him with heat and making him shift in his chair. Oh no, Rodolphus certainly hadn't been cold that night. And from what Harry had shared of the night he had spent with Rabastan, he certainly hadn't been very cold either.

"Roark, are you sure I can't convince you and Harry to come home?"

No way in hell. "No Grandfather, you can't. I'm sorry, but we aren't going to leave here now." Especially if there was any chance of another night in the arms of their Terminators. They'd said just that one night, but Roark found himself wishing for another, and so much more. Oh, how right Alexei had been. That kind of passion WAS hard to resist.

'Oh Gods, I'm in so much trouble,' he thought. 'We both are.'

"Of course, you won't," came his grandfather's resigned voice, pulling his attention back to him. "I could insist that you both be recalled."

"You could," Roark agreed, smiling at his grandfather's stern façade staring at him through the view screen. "But you won't. Any more than Thorin would recall Fili or Kili, or Roark, Dacian and Gabriel would recall Logan, or all four would recall me and Harry without a very good reason. Like it or not, we're Counter Intelligence now, and you all know very well that to recall us would destroy our careers. Besides, we can't…no, we won't leave Fili, Alexei, Desmond, Jordan and Tyler here with the leak who murdered their brother, their cousin. One who's called out hits on Logan and Kili."

"I just can't believe that Ardyn could go so bad, Rory."

"None of us wants to believe it, Grandfather, but his actions these last few sectars {months} have really put him into question. We need to stay. We have to find out the truth of what happened to him, and finally we have to stop Riddle."

"Why you, Roark? Why Harry?"

A smile. "Because he murdered our parents, it's our job, and it's what we were sent here to do."

Roark blinked as his grandfather began to mutter a few choice words. He couldn't help it, he began to laugh. "Really, Grandfather, aren't you a bit old to be throwing a temper tantrum?"

"Show some respect, brat," he said with a rich chuckle.

"Yes sir," he said with a mock salute, but then he sobered, his expression becoming serious, worried. "About Logan and Kili…"

"What would you like to see happen with our two young Lt.'s?"

"Logan misses Christopher…hell, he misses all of his brothers, and I know Kili misses the cousins. Chris, Damien, Dylan, Payton, Ethan, and Colten are the only ones within easy reach at this particular moment."

"Hum…"

"Could it be done do you think?"

Commander Jacob Adama gave his youngest grandson a warm smile. "We could always use a couple more good pilots aboard the Galactica, and I admit, those six have expressed a great deal of worry about Logan since Kale was murdered."

"You can assure them he's doing better than when we arrived. If they could be posted that would be a worry off all of our minds."

"Then I will see what I can do."

"Thank you," he sighed. "How's Grandmother?"

"Your Grandmother is fine and sends her love to you both," Adama sat back in his chair. "Colten and Dylan drew leave time with your Uncle Apollo, as did Lt.'s Starbuck and Boomer."

"Did they? Well, I certainly hope Uncle Apollo is enjoying himself, tell him we said hello and to not let Starbuck get them into too much trouble."

A soft chuckle. "So says our little demon who could never seem to stay out of trouble when he got together with Logan, Christopher, and Kili."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Grandfather," came back with the most innocent look he could manage.

"No, of course you don't," he said with a chuckle, raising a brow.

"You know, it's amazing how much we miss all of them. We spent nearly as much time at the Durin's as we did at home. I find myself wishing I could see them. They weren't home when Harry and I returned from Virgon. I've missed them. Hell, I've missed all of you."

"Trust me, Rory, we miss you too. Perhaps you'll get to see them soon."

Roark shook his head as his office door chimed, then slid open. He turned his head to see who it was and frowned. "Listen, I need to get back to work. Give Grandmother and everyone my love and tell Logan and Kili I'm sorry we sent them home. I just felt it was the right decision to make, and I'm quite sure they'll both see my hand in this," he raised his hand to wave him in, "But I just can't risk them staying here when there's hits out on them both."

"I'll do that for you, son," he said, seeing the frown and the guarded expression that had entered his youngest son's eyes, which only meant one thing in his estimation. Ardyn. "Promise me you'll take care of yourself, young man? You and Harry are to watch your backs."

"The Lestrange brothers don't hit from behind."

"No, they don't, but then, they aren't your only enemy, now are they?"

"No, that they aren't, but do try not to worry too much, Grandfather. Trust me when I say Harry and I have our backs well covered."

"Give Alexei, Desmond, Fili, Jordan, and Tyler, as well as Ardyn, my best. Be sure and tell those Durin boys I'll kick their asses to the outer territories and back if anything happens to my boys."

"Grandfather!"

"I love you, Roark. Be sure to give Harry my love just in case I don't get a chance to talk to him later tonight."

"Don't worry I will. I love you, Grandfather."

His screen went black, and suddenly feeling very close to tears, he lowered his head, closing his eyes with a sigh until he had himself under control. Hands settled on his shoulders, began to knead. He couldn't help but tense at the touch.

"Ardyn," he murmured, forcing himself to relax, his head coming up and his eyes opening.

"You looked awful sad there for a micron {second}. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Talking to my grandfather brought home just how much I miss my family and friends," he stood, stretched, moved away from him. "Let's go meet with Harry and the others. I want to find out if that lead Harry and Ken were looking into went anywhere. We're now down three men instead of one. We have a lot of work to do."

"Roark wait just a moment. About that night-"

Roark shook his head, forcing himself to smile as he looked up at him. "Don't worry about it Ardyn. I was tired and feeling very stressed. After I left you that night, I did some thinking."

"Did you?" he asked, a slight edge to his voice. "About what, if I may ask?"

"Several things. I've concluded that it's a bad idea to get involved with anyone right now. Number one, I'm just not ready to be in any kind of a relationship with anyone," unless it was with a certain Terminator. 'Ah fuck,' he thought. 'Was he truly considering a relationship with Rodolphus?' "Number two, the entire team has been murdered, and I'm being targeted by Rodolphus, and my brother is being targeted by Rabastan-"

"I'm aware of that, Rory," he interrupted, a sharp snap to his tone. "Very well aware of it."

Roark frowned. "There's no need to snap at me, Ardyn. I can't help how I feel, and right now, I feel my entire focus, OUR entire focus needs to be on Tom Riddle, and not on you and me."

He gave a sigh. "I'm sorry, perhaps you're right. It's just that I care about you, Roark. I'm attracted to you."

'Well, I'm not attracted to you,' he thought. "They'll be plenty of time after we close this case to get to know each other. I'm do some leave time, maybe I could spend some of it here?"

"That would be nice."

To Roark, he looked, sounded, even FELT furious about what he'd just said to him. 'Well, that's just too bad', he thought. He didn't want Ardyn. He'd never even been attracted to him, and then there'd been that passionate night in Rodolphus' arms…Was that really only two days ago?

Now he wanted another night. Truth be told, he wanted many more nights. Question was, did Rodolphus? He'd have to figure out a way to meet with him, see what he could find out.

cccVccc

Roark was frowning deeply as he entered his office nearly three sectons {week} later, an envelope marked Top Secret, priority to Lieutenant Roark Potter, Colonial Counter Intelligence, in his hand.

Harry looked up as the door slid open, a frown twisting lips and brow as soon as he caught sight of his brothers face. "Rory, what's wrong?" he asked, getting quickly to his feet.

"I haven't opened it yet," he answered, moving to his desk and dropping down into his chair. "Would any of you care to bet on what this," he waved the envelope at them, "contains?"

The six of them dared to smile at him. "We learned a long time ago never to take certain bets from you, Demon." Desmond said, reaching out to snatch the waving envelope from him, opened it, pulled out the paper contained within, and began to read. "Ah ha. Just as we thought. Dad and Uncle Thorin have managed to clear the schedules of several Counter Intelligence Teams. They're sending them to us."

"Of course, they are," came back wryly. "Damn it, we asked them not to send anyone else."

"You didn't really expect them to listen, now did you? They're not about to let the six of us go up against Riddle alone, and we're likely going to have to take out Ardyn as well."

"Yes," he said, rubbing a hand over his face. "Damn. How much do you also want to bet Logan and Kili, despite their new posting to the Galactica, will be with them?"

Several deep chuckles sounded. "Sucker bet, that is." Tyler said. "Like you and your brother, and like us, they don't like to leave things unfinished, and this job isn't finished yet," then Tyler's look grew serious. "Rory-"

Roark looked at him with a grimace. "Get that look out of your eyes right now, Tyler Connor Durin. I'm alright."

He smiled at the use of his full name even as he shook his head, sharing a look with his cousins, and Harry, who shrugged. "Listen, we're not so sure, kiddo," he said quietly, moving to sit on the corner of the desk next to him, looking worried. "You look tired, Rory. Worn down. You're not sleeping, are you?"

"I have to agree with him, little brother," Harry said as his chair turned so that he could look at him, his expression one of worry. "You're not sleeping and you've been looking far to stressed for my comfort for a few days now. "

Roark looked over at him with a deep sigh, shook his head. "Dreams, and some of them are none too pleasant."

"Your empathy is finally open all the way, then?" Jordan asked.

Rory blinked. "Well, if that's what this is, then yes, I'd say it's open fully."

"Rory-"

"Desmond, you know I remember nothing from Saggitara."

A deep, very unhappy frown. "I remember enough for both of us, thank you very much."

"Desmond, I-"

Desmond raised a hand to stop him. "Look, I know, and believe me Rory, I do understand why you have no wish to remember, or even to talk about it. However, if your empathy is indeed fully open, then we're going to need Ethan, and maybe Rohan to help teach you some control, as well as how to shield yourself so that you don't become overwhelmed by excess emotion."

"What would happen if I did?"

"That's part of why you don't remember Saggitara." Harry told him quietly, standing and moving to squat beside his chair, laying a hand on his forearm. "I was fifteen when they brought you home, Rory, and you were still comatose. I don't think any of us have ever been so scared, even though Ethan said you would eventually wake up, it wasn't fast enough to suit us."

"Nor us. Either way, I imagine one or two, or more of our brothers and cousins will be here." Alexei said quietly. "When does the shuttle arrive?"

"Tomorrow morning eight hundred centars {hours}." Desmond answered.

"Then I guess I had better be at the spaceport to meet them," Roark said as he got to his feet. "Harry, you'll come with."

"Of course. Now then, shall we go and deal with that drug den on Wahren?"

"Yes, let's."

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It was very late when he entered his apartment after seeing Harry into his next door, closing and securing the door upon entering. He leaned against it, his eyes closing in exhaustion. Bright Lords of Kobol! What a fucking horrible night THIS had been. Two more raids after the drug den, two pitched battles. Death on both sides, but, thank the Gods, none of the Durins. There were also some injuries, and now both Desmond AND Tyler were sporting slings. Desmond's on his left arm, and Tyler his right, both completely unusable for the next couple of sectons {weeks} while muscles, nerves and laser burns healed. He also now knew what it meant to be completely overwhelmed by his emotions. Seeing them go down, feeling their pain, had affected him far more than he'd EVER thought would be possible.

"Rodolphus," he murmured, his eyes opening as he lifted his head.

"You were a very busy boy tonight, weren't you?" he asked softly, amusement plain in his tone as he came across the dark living area. "I trust Captain Desmond, and Major Tyler will be alright?"

"They're fine, though neither will be able to use their arms for the next couple of sectons {weeks}. They were both drugged on pain killers," an all too brief smile, "Acting very loopy and sleepy at the same time when Harry and I left the medical Center. They'll be released in the morning." He raised a brow. "You and Rabastan were there, then? I thought I heard Bellatrix's cackling."

A snort. "We were there," he said quietly, reaching him and lifting a hand to brush some hair back out of his eyes. "He's with Harry now, and yes that insane bitch was there."

A nod. "Figured as much. You really shouldn't be here," he murmured, wanting nothing more than to step into his arms "any more than your brother should be with Harry."

"No, we probably shouldn't at that," he agreed softly, "but we are. I'll go if that's what you really want-"

"No!" he reached out quickly to stop him. "Please, Rodolphus. Stay." GODS, he sounded so desperate. "I have a bare minimum of understanding about what exactly is happening to me right now, but for the first time all Gods damned night, I feel calm. Safe. I NEED you, Dolph."

"Just as much as I need you," he stepped into him, bending his head to brush a kiss to his lips. "I know we said only the one night, but I can't stay away from you any longer. I've tried. Gods, have I tried, but these last few sectons {weeks} have been sheer hell. When I saw you tonight, laser pistol in your hand, an unreadable yet so determined look on your face…I knew there was no way in hell one night with you would ever be enough. I want you too badly."

"No, one night won't be anywhere near enough." He pushed away from the door, stepping into his arms easily. "Bed, Rodolphus. Now."

He couldn't help it. He laughed. "Demanding little demon, aren't you?" came his deep, amusement rich voice.

"I am," Roark replied with a chuckle, "but then, you aren't much better. If I remember that night together as well as I know you do, you were a very demanding devil," he lifted himself, hands on his chest to press his lips to Rodolphus'. Slowly, he began to back them toward the bedroom, his fingers beginning to work the buttons of the black silk shirt after he had dealt with the ties to the leather vest.

"Devil. I like that," he gave a soft moan then as cool fingers slipped inside his shirt to sift through the dark hair on his chest, brushing over hardening nipples. "We'll be lovers, Roark," he murmured, wrapping his arms around the slender waist to draw him flush against him. "You will be mine and if anyone dares to try to take you away from me, I'll kill him."

"My, how possessive you are," he murmured, pressing his lips to the bare chest, nipped at the skin there. "I like that very, VERY much."

"Good. Let me show you just how possessive I'm going to be," he growled in a voice that had Roark's already fast beating heart speeding up even more, had him catching his breath just as his lips were claimed in a deep passionate kiss.

They both moaned deeply their tongues meeting in a duel of dominance, which Rodolphus easily won. They fell to the bed, hands moving over each other quickly, throwing the clothing they removed away from them, then before Roark knew it, Rodolphus had buried himself deeply inside him, slamming himself home with a single thrust, making Roark arch, to cry out at the stretching almost painful burn of his entry. So hard, so hot and so very deep. His powerful slamming thrusts in and out of him making him lift his hips to meet each inward stroke of that hard, thick cock, making him cry out each time that blunt head found his prostate.

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He lay against him, head resting on his shoulder, their heartbeats beginning to slow their frantic beats, though their bodies still thrummed from their so passionate lovemaking. No way in hell, he thought, that this was just sex anymore.

"You okay, baby?" he asked in a murmur, turning his head to press a kiss to his sweaty brow.

Baby. He liked that. A lot. "Oh yes," he breathed, stretching against him, his left hand moving up, fingers twining through the soft dark hair that covered his chest. "Absolutely wonderful," he tilted his head back, about to say something else to him when Rodolphus bent, claiming his already passion bruised lips in a slow, deep, sensual kiss. "Umm…" his eyes slid closed, his body sliding against his.

"What have you done to me, Roark Christopher Potter?" he murmured in a huskily deep voice, just barely lifting his head, lust darkened sherry eyes meeting silver, searching their depths as if looking for answers to questions yet unasked.

"The same thing you've done to me, Rodolphus Corvus Lestrange," he answered, pushing him back against the pillows and rolling on top of him, searching those dark eyes. "What, I wonder, would you say if I were to tell you I think I may be falling in love with you?"

A startled look entered his eyes. "Are you?"

Roark nodded, a smile curving his lips. "Yes, Rodolphus, I do believe I am," his head tilted slightly. "You find it odd that I could love you?"

"Roark…baby, I'm married, though granted it's too an insane woman who hates me nearly as much as I hate her. I'm a Terminator. I work for the man you're-" warm fingers covered his lips, halting what he'd been about to say.

"I know exactly WHO and WHAT you are, Rodolphus, and as for your…wife, she will eventually be dealt with. I can see AND feel what you try so hard to hide beneath that dark, cold, and oh so deadly exterior. You are a hell of a lot more than you let anyone see. Tristyn was right when he said you were not at all what you seem to be."

"Roark-"

"Hush," his fingers pressed against his lips to quiet him before he bent to kiss him, "It's alright. I know too, that whatever it is that you're hiding from me, you're doing so because you have too, not because you want too. You'll tell me sooner rather than later, and I think I may even have an idea, but I'm not at all sure what I suspect may be true, so I'll not say anything. Nor will I push the issue."

"Why?"

"Because I trust you."

"Perhaps you shouldn't," he growled, rolling them back onto Roark's back, capturing the hands he raised, lifting them over his head, and locking them there with a hard hold of his right. "This would be the perfect way to kill you, Lieutenant. Here in your bed, as I fuck you into the mattress," his left hand slid to his neck. "Right here, Roark," he whispered, "right after you orgasm, as you clench so hard around my cock, I could press right here," his fingers pressed lightly into the jugular. "I could kill you with just the right amount of pressure."

"Yes, I suppose you could," he said calmly, silver eyes locked with dark sherry, "but you won't."

"How can you be so sure of that?" he asked with more than just a touch of desperation.

"Two reasons. One, that's not your style. Oh, you could fuck me, then kill me just after we've found our release, but it would be a knife in the heart, not strangulation. Second, I can see into YOUR heart. No matter what your training as a Terminator may be telling you to do, your heart…your soul and your mind aren't going to let you. So yes, Rodolphus, you could indeed kill me, but you won't. There is this innate sense of right, of honor, buried deep within you that only a few others besides me has seen. It's what drew me to you in the first place. It's why I trust you," he smiled up at him. "It's also why I'm not fighting you as you hold me like this, and doubt me not, Rodolphus Lestrange, if I truly felt threatened, or felt that I was in any true danger from you, I WOULD be fighting you."

"My God," he breathed, his legs moving to push Roark's apart, the hand on his neck moving, sliding under his hair, then down his spine. "I think I love you," he went on in a whisper.

Roark arched up into that so strong body that covered his. With his wrists locked over his head by Rodolphus' left hand, the right now at the small of his back, he felt well and truly captured.

But he also felt safe.

He felt protected.

"Rodolphus," he breathed, his arms moving, hands twisting as if to get free. "I have this fantasy."

A slow smile began to curve his lips. "Just one?" he asked, bending to kiss him, hips moving into position, and with one hard, very powerful thrust, he slid home within the so tight, hot heat of his lover's ass. "I have several, all of them concerning you," he murmured against his lips as he gasped. "This is only one of them."

He began to move within him, withdrawing, then thrusting in. "You trapped beneath me while I fuck you hard. Pound you into this mattress so that when you get up tomorrow, you'll feel me still buried deep inside of you."

"Oh yes," he gasped, arching up to take him even deeper within him. "Take me, Rodolphus. So very deep, so powerful. I want to be able to feel you in me tomorrow."

"You will, baby," he rasped, his eyes nearly black with his passion, with his desire to claim this man beneath him. His hips began to move faster, harder, to press deeper, grinding himself into him with each slamming thrust. "Yes, baby, that's it. Take me into you," he growled, feeling Roark's legs lift to wrap around his snapping hips. "Sweet Gods, you feel so good. So very hot, and so fucking tight around me," he moaned.

"You should…feel it…from my…end. Oh, YES," he moaned, "that feels so good. You're so big, and I can still feel how you stretch me open, taking you so…oh so deep into me. Rodolphus!" he gasped as one particular deep thrust made him brush against something in him that made him want to scream as the pleasure intensified.

"Mine," he growled, lifting his head just enough to look at his face, flushed deeply with his passion, shining with sweat. "Say it, Roark," he demanded of him now, his thrusts literally slamming hard into him. "Tell me you are mine, and mine alone."

"Yes, Rodolphus," he moaned, head thrashing on his pillow, "I'm yours," he gasped, his lovers so powerful thrusts into him driving him up, forcing him to cry out as each of those slamming thrusts kept hitting that one place inside him. "I am," he gasped, his body beginning to draw up tight, "and will always BE yours! RO…DOLPH…US!" he screamed then, his head pressing back into his pillow, his body arching off the bed as his so taut body climaxed powerfully.

"Yes, Roark! Fuck, YES!" Rodolphus' cry echoed Roark's as mere moments later his own climax rocketed through him, flooding Roark with the hot wetness of his release.

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Faint fingers of dawn were creeping into the room as the bed shifted, rousing him from a deep, dreamless sleep. "Rodolphus?" he murmured sleepily.

"Sh…" warm lips pressed to his forehead. "I have to go before it gets much lighter. Go back to sleep, baby."

"Umm…" he glanced at the clock, groaned. "Can't," he said, sitting up in the bed, and watching him move around the room collecting his clothing. "I have to be at the spaceport in a couple of centars {hours}," he yawned, ran a hand through his hair.

He moved back to the bed once he was dressed, buckling his weapons belt into place. "Be careful," he said, bending to brush a kiss to his lips. "Just because I have the lone contract to kill you, doesn't mean some adventuress Terminator won't try."

"I know, as I'm sure you know, I had a close call a secton {week} ago. Don't worry, I'll be careful."

"I do know, and the young fool has been dealt with. Riddle didn't care that he tried, it was that he failed. It was my immense pleasure to deal with him."

Roark chuckled. "I'm sure it was. One less Terminator to arrest when the time comes," he said watching him cross to the terrace doors. "Dolph."

Rodolphus paused, looked back at him and smiled. He really did like how he shortened his name. "Don't worry, babe. I'll be fine. I've been very careful, for a very long time. I'm not about to get careless now."

"Then see that you don't start, Mr. Lestrange," he stood, smiling as his lover's eyes moved over his naked body as he crossed the bedroom to him, settling his hands on the leather covered chest, he lifted himself to kiss him. "I love you," he murmured.

He lifted his hand, fingers sliding over the fresh bruise on his neck. "I love you," he returned, then opened one of the glass doors and stepped out in the cold morning dawn, meeting his brother who was waiting patiently in the shadows near the end of the walkway between his and Harry's apartments.

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"Well frack!" he swore sharply, earning him a chuckle from Harry as he glancing down at his chronometer, hurrying down the street toward the spaceport. He was running late because, despite himself, he'd crawled back into bed, grabbed Rodolphus' pillow, wrapped his blankets around himself, and had fallen back to sleep.

He's woken a centar {hour} before he was due to be at the spaceport to Harry calling his name, so instead of the nice soaking bath he'd planned on, he'd had to settle on a quick shower. Then, standing before the mirror as he'd gotten dressed, he seen the new bruises on his neck.

"I have one on mine too," Harry had told him as he came into the bathroom with a uniform, reaching up to touch a spot at the side of his neck. "Better hurry, we're going to be late."

He smiled now, thinking, 'payments for our nights spent in the arms of very passionate, very possessive lover's. He'd lifted his hand to brush his fingers over the side of his neck where Rodolphus had placed that biting, sucking kiss. His smile widened as he remembered seeing the same bruises on Rodolphus' neck as he'd gotten dressed that morning.

Finally, they reached the main office of the spaceport and halted outside the door. He took a moment, drew in a couple of deep breaths, releasing them slowly to slow his breathing, looking over at Harry to see him doing the same, a hand raising to run through his hair. Reaching up, he brushed some dark hair back out of his eyes, then tried to finger comb the rest into place, which earned a chuckle from his brother.

"I think we may as well forget it, little brother. Our hair is never going to lie flat."

A snort. "I think we should think about asking Alexei to cut our hair again. But not today. We just aren't going to have any time. Let's get inside and see if the shuttle has landed."

Reaching out, Roark opened the door to the office, entering with Harry behind him. The cool, calm, collected warriors they were. Not! So not! The man sitting behind the desk looked up and Roark saw surprise flash in his eyes as soon as he saw them. 'Oh, here we go again,' he thought with exasperation, glancing at Harry to see he had realized the same.

"Can I help you, Officers?" he asked with a slow grin, his eyes moving over them.

Roark was not in the mood to deal with idiots today, and by his brother's expression he wasn't either. "Lt.'s Hadrian and Roark Potter, Colonial Counter Intelligence. We're expecting several warriors off today's military shuttle from Caprica. Has it arrived yet?"

"Not that I'm aware of, Lieutenant," he answered, his hazel eyes moving over him just as Rodolphus and Ardyn's did, but only from Rodolphus did it seem to be a caress, which it was. From Rodolphus, it was a look of desire, of passion and want, from Ardyn it was nowhere near the same and irritating as hell. From this man, it was nothing short of an insult. Roark felt himself becoming angry. Fast.

"When is the shuttle due to arrive?" Harry snapped out, seeing Roark beginning to get very angry very quickly, not mind you, that he was any better.

He glanced over at his monitor, tapped a few keys. "Looks like they're on final approach now," he answered, then looked back at them. "So, tell me," he began, a smile curving his lips, his tone becoming seductive, or so he thought, "what are two handsome young men like you doing in the Colonial Service?"

Fury flared in the both of them, and Roark felt his temper snap suddenly. Slamming his hands down on the desk, he leaned forward, snapping in a harsh, cold voice. "We are, first and foremost, officer's in Colonial Counter Intelligence, sir. Our age, nor our looks, matter. Should I ever hear such comments from you again, I will personally see to it that you are arrested and brought up on charges of sexual harassment."

: Roark. : The voice in his mind was soft, and because of the fury burning through him, barely recognizable. : Rory, you need to calm down. : He didn't know where it came from, but he did think he knew to whom it belonged too, and the effect was instantaneous. : There, that's better, isn't it? You can think now. :

"Have I made myself clear?" he asked in a bit quieter, but still harsh tone of voice.

"Yes sir!" he said, swallowing

"Good," he said, drawing himself up straight. "I'm sure you won't mind if we go wait on the tarmac. Have a pleasant work day," he turned Harry at his side, and froze in surprise.

Standing just inside the doorway was a group of sixteen warriors. All of them stood shoulder to shoulder, forming a half moon shape in the office, identical looks on all but two faces. Those two faces had wide grins as they looked at them, both giving them little waves. He and Harry snapped to attention, saluted sharply.

"At ease, Lt. Roark, Lt. Hadrian," he said in a deep voice as he stepped forward.

He relaxed, gave them all a warm smile. "Good morning, Lt. Colonel Aiden," he said, moving forward. "Welcome to Aquaria."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Hello Harry," he said with a smile. "Shall we head on over to headquarters? From some of the things Lt.'s Logan and Kili have been telling us since coming home, we have an awful lot to discuss."

"That we do," he answered, looking over at the two grinning men, one of whom had a white bandage poking out of the black uniform shirt on his shoulder. He frowned. "Ki-"

"What in the world?" Harry gasped seeing the bandage then too, beginning to move toward him.

"Not here you two," he interrupted easily, glancing at the port manager behind them, seeing how pale he had gone. "I'm fine. We'll discuss what happened in your office. Okay?"

"Fine, but I suggest you all be prepared for an interrogation as not one person saw fit to call Fili and the others to let them know his younger brother; their cousin had been wounded," he grinned when several faces went pale. They all knew the consequences of not calling a family member when one of them was hurt, especially in a family that was as close as the Durin's were known to be. "Let's get going, then, shall we?" he asked pleasantly.

"You're enjoying our discomfort in forgetting to call Fili and the others far too much, Roark Christopher."

"Aren't I though?" he asked with a chuckle. "Come along then, gentlemen. Fi and the others are waiting at Headquarters."

Several gave what now seemed to be reluctant nods. "I'll be along in a few centons {minutes}, Aidan." Lt. Payton Durin spoke up just then, three of his brothers, Colten, Ethan, and Rohan, as well as a cousin, Gwydion, joined him.

"Pay-" Harry began.

Payton never removed his eyes from the man now sitting nervously behind his desk. "Do go along, you two. We just need to have a word with the port manager."

"About our things, of course," Ethan added, his tone cool.

"I see," Roark said with a shake of his head, knowing very well what they were going to discuss with the man. Damn over protective Durin's. "Very well, then. Logan, why don't you stay with them." Hopefully to keep them out of trouble, though truthfully, by the look in Logan's blue eyes, he doubted that would be the case. "You can show them to my office when they're done here."

"Of course, and by the by Rory, we WILL be discussing your actions further later."

"Oh yes," Kili said, with an annoyed look of his own, "we most certainly will."

"Roark," Harry turned to look at his brother, an eyebrow raising. "Just what did you do, my brother?"

He sighed deeply. Oh, boy, he was in trouble now. Of course, he thought as he looked at each of them and their frowns, he'd known he would be if they ever learned about what he'd done in the attempt to keep them off Aquaria. He wondered how they'd found out, he thought with a deep sigh. "Of course, we will. This way Aiden, guys." He led them out of the office, then looked back worriedly as Sebastien pulled the door quietly closed behind them. "I trust they won't hurt him."

"Roark, really?"

"The reports, Robin," he said, lips twitching as he looked over at him. "The reports will be a bitch to fill out, and I really don't have time to be filling out extra reports."

He smiled as they laughed at that.

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A short time later, they entered his office, and as soon as the door slid closed behind them, Roark turned, only to feel arms wrap around his tense body. "It's okay, Rory," was murmured into his ear, a head bent close as he felt the shudders that had begun to roll over him. "I have you, my nephew. Let go now. Relax."

"Uncle Apollo," he murmured.

"Hush…just be quiet and let me hold you for a moment."

Roark did just that. Laying his head against his uncle's chest, closing his eyes, listening to his heartbeat. He felt one arm release him, reaching out and he lifted his head just as Apollo pulled Harry, who had been standing nearby with a smile on his face, into a three way hug. "Good Gods, Uncle Apollo. I've missed you," he said softly with a deep sigh after a few centons {minutes}. "We both have."

A soft chuckle sounded. "Just as I've missed you scamps." He drew back, finally releasing them both. "Better?"

"Yes," he answered as he stepped back. "Well, Captain? What do you think?"

Apollo, who hadn't seen his youngest nephew since his graduation just over two yahrens {year} ago, looked him over carefully, noting several changes in him immediately. He'd lost some weight, and he looked tired as was usual, but it was when he met those silver eyes, that he saw the biggest change.

A lover. 'Great Lords of Kobol,' he thought in surprise, recognizing the look as one who was now sexually aware of himself. 'My sweet, precious youngest nephew has a lover,' he thought to himself. "I do believe the port manager was right," he said. 'So, who was he?' he found himself wondering as Roark flushed. 'Who was his nephew sleeping with? Or, more to the point, who was he in LOVE with?'

"Uncle Apollo," he moved past him with a shake of his head as several chuckles sounded around the office. He moved to his desk, turned to face them, finding his uncle now looking at Harry, studying him and he had to smirk.

"Harry, I trust you are well as well, nephew?" 'So,' he thought, 'they both not only had lovers, but were obviously in love with them.'

"As well as can be expected given out circumstances, Uncle Apollo."

"I gather we have Grandfather, Admiral Roark, Commander Thorin, and several Durin brother's and cousins to blame for you all being here?"

"You do. After hearing Logan and Kili's reports as to what was happening here, then reading your reports, how could they not send us, and us not come? Especially after there were two attempts on Logan and Kili's lives."

He looked around the room. "They were furious with me, weren't they?"

Sebastien grinned. "Well, they certainly weren't very happy with you for trying to keep them away after they'd looked into what you wanted them too. On the other hand, they do understand why you made such a move behind their backs." He met his eyes. "As do we."

"Rory," Harry turned to his brother, a slight frown in place, "again, brother, WHAT did you do?"

"Asked Grandfather if he could see about having them posted to a Battlestar. Either the Galactica or the Solaria."

Harry could only shake his head. "No wonder they aren't happy with you."

"Hello?! Standing right here." Kili snapped out, frowning at all of them.

Roark gave a nod as he looked at his frowning friend. "I'm sorry, Ki, but I honestly believed it was the right thing to do. We've lost so many already," he nodded to his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

A grin. "I'll be fine. It was a scratch. It was the poison that did the most damage."

"I do hope he's dead, Kili." Harry said.

His grin widened. "Oh yes, dead as dead can be after Dad got done turning him into hamburger."

Laughter sounded, and Roark could only shake his head. "That's good, but there are still hits out on both of you. I'm not at all happy that you're here. Riddle has had the entire team except for us, Alexei, Desmond, Jordan, Fili, Tyler and Ken murdered, and there have been more than a few fair misses for all of us."

"I thought Rodolphus and Rabastan had the sole contracts on you and Harry?" came the question with a frown.

"Oh they do, Damien, and as they like to remind us when we see each other in the city square, that's not going to stop the ones seeking Riddle's eye. Come to think of it," he said with a grin and a tilt of his head, "he's been rather extremely pleased of late."

"Hum…" Harry breathed as he moved to take a seat in the chair behind his desk, "now that I think about it, so has Rabastan."

"Why is that?"

"Probably because they are getting to deal with the stupid idiots when they fail," he chuckled. "Those two DO love their jobs, but it's also made things a bit better for us."

Several raised brows at that. "How so?"

"Well, in Rodolphus' words, he's so busy dealing with the idiots, he hasn't got much time to deal with me. A win, win as far as we're both concerned. I get to keep living to destroy Tom Riddle, and he gets to deal with incompetent, stupid Terminators."

"Rabastan has said the same," a smirk, "all the while rubbing his hands together with a nearly manic grin curving his lips. He even told me he wished Bella would try so that he could kill the crazy harridan for Rodolphus."

"Well then, as long as they're happy…They really don't like her, do they?" Kili raised a brow, looking from a grinning Harry, to Roark. "You see them quite often, do you?"

A grin. "Often enough. He likes to keep me informed of what he's doing as Rabastan apparently has with Harry. We never did find those disks Tristyn spoke of."

"Of course you didn't. You weren't really expecting too, were you?"

"No, not really, but I thought we'd keep looking all the same. Anyway, that was part of why I wanted Logan and Kili out of here. We know Ardyn is our leak. That he murdered Kale. That he ordered Tristyn's murder, and that he hired the Terminators who were sent after Logan and Kili. We just don't have the proof we need to arrest him and hold him for questioning. He's covered his tracks too well."

"Or maybe you're just plain wrong." Apollo said in a defensive tone, looking at both of his nephews.

Roark looked over at his Uncle, meeting his blue eyes. "I really wish we were, Uncle Apollo, but you haven't been here. You haven't seen or heard the things we've seen and heard. He's…changed, and it hasn't been a good change. We have information that the order to kill Kale, Tristyn, Logan and Kili did NOT come from Riddle."

"That still doesn't mean it came from Ardyn," he sent back stubbornly.

"You're right, Apollo, it doesn't." Aiden jumped in when he saw Roark open his mouth to blast his Uncle, and Harry sit forward in his chair, his eyes narrowed angrily. "That's why everyone was so uncomfortable having all of you being here on your own. If it's not Ardyn, then that meant you had a leak you hadn't identified. That left you all open to unclear danger. Unacceptable in our books," he said, moving closer to Rory's desk.

"Though watching you handle that jerk—"

"You set us up!" Roark exclaimed with a punishing glare around the room.

A midnight brow went up. "Did we?"

"You did, and you damn well know it, Ryder!" his glare turned blistering. "Don't you dare think of lying to me, Ryder Stranton. I KNOW when people lie to me."

"Of course you do," he said with a chuckle.

"Which is why none of us would ever dream of lying to you, Demon."

Roark looked over at Robin, who raised a brow of his own, as if daring him to respond to him. He sighed, took a seat in his chair as he glanced at Ryder. "I'm not a squirt," he said, earning surprised looks from several Durins as he returned his gaze to Robin. "You and your damn tests, but none of you are ever going to change, are you?"

"To some of us you are-"

"Ryder, that's enough." Robin said sternly with a glance to his youngest brother. "No, Rory, we won't. Now," he moved over to a chair close to the desk, "tell us what's happened since you sent my brother in law and his cousin home."

He waved everyone to take seats as he reached out to press a button on his com pad. "Lex?"

"Here, Rory," came his immediate response.

"We have guests. Please join us in our office."

"We'll be right there."

A few microns {seconds} later, Alexei, Desmond, Jordan, and Tyler entered the office, a frown on all their faces as they listened to Payton, while Ethan was attempting to get a look at Desmond's shoulder, only to have his hands swatted away with an irritated growl. He sighed, made to turn to Tyler, who held up a hand, shook his head.

"Don't even think about it, cousin," came his own irritated growl. Then he saw Kili, and his blue eyes widened, then narrowed warningly. "What the FUCK happened to you?!" he snapped out harshly.

"Terminator. I'll tell you guys what happened on Caprica in a bit. There are other things to discuss first."

"Yes, there are." Roark raised a dark brow. "So, Captain, I trust you haven't made it so I have to fill out any extra reports?"

Payton grinned. "Of course not, Rory. We only had a few…words with him."

"Damn it, guys, we're fine. Now leave us alone." Desmond growled, making Roark turn his head and chuckle. "It's not funny, Rory," he grumbled at him.

His hands came up in a placating manner. "Hey, I'm not the one who spent the night in Life Center."

"ROARK!" came two identical shouts.

Fili chuckled. "We're in trouble now. Demon's come out to play," he turned his head, grinned. "Is Scamp far behind?"

Harry grinned at him. "You never know."

"I like to let him out every once and a while. Sebastien, I suggest you, Robin, and Ethan, back off. They're alright, though neither will be taking part in any raids other than as look outs, and yes Kili, that means you."

"DEFINITELY means you." Harry did sit forward now to look sternly at him. "Do stop trying to hide behind your brother. You know what those raids have become like."

Alexei looked around the room, then shook his head. "I guess we should have expected this. We send the two of you home," he pointed to Logan and Kili, "to protect you and keep you safely alive, and what do you do? You turn around and come back, bringing a third of the family with you."

A snort. "It isn't quite a third, and like we were going to have any choice after Dad, Uncle Thorin, Skyler and our brothers got done with those reports. Plus, you should have seen their faces when those damn Terminator's that were sent after us got stupid and thought they could take us out in the middle of Presidium Square."

Roark laughed. "Oh yes, THAT we would have LOVED to see. I would imagine their looks were priceless."

"Oh, they were."

"Dad was, by the by, absolutely furious."

Now it was Fili's turn to snort. "Of course, he was, Ki. Someone dared to attack his baby, and in a very public place at that. Stupidity at its highest. The wound, little brother?" he asked, turning to him as if to check under the bandage himself.

A frown. "Let my guard down, got nicked by the knife. It's not a serious cut, but there was poison on the blade. That caused more of a problem than the actual cut did. Refused to stop bleeding. It was like I was a bleeder."

"Just like Kale and Tristyn."

"For the record," Logan said, "as I have said several times. I don't need to be protected or kept safe, and neither does Kili. We certainly weren't going to leave you guys here alone to deal with Ardyn and Riddle alone. As it is, we're gone three sectons {week}, and you two," he pointed accusingly at his brother and cousin, "get yourselves shot."

"Like Ki's, it's only a graze. Nothing to worry about."

"Then why keep you over night?" Sebastien asked. "They wouldn't do that for no reason."

A shrug. "No idea, but I'm sure you're going to ask them as soon as we're done here and you three can get to the Life Center." Desmond said moving to take a seat on the corner of Roark's desk. "Kili, were you and Chris able to find anything?"

"Nothing yet, but Chris said he'd keep digging. There's something there, he just needs to get past all the fire walls and protections. That's going to take time. Probably more time than we have. He'll work as fast as he can, but he has to be careful not to alert Ardyn that he's looking the past few years."

"I don't want anyone else to die," came quietly, "too many have died as it is."

"Warriors die, Rory." Rohan said, a slight frown curving his brow as he studied his face. "We all knew the risks when we signed up, and what anyone wants, or doesn't want becomes irrelevant when facing an enemy like Riddle, or the Cylons."

"Yes, and as much as you may want to do this alone, you can't, and logically, you know that." Ethan said, his blue eyes on his face, expression worried. "You're not getting enough sleep."

Roark smiled. "No, but I'm getting enough, and yes, before you ask, according to Desmond, Kili, and Tyler all of the blocks are down," his gaze shifted as his door slid open, as did Harry's. "Come in, Ardyn," he said, his gaze returning to Ethan. "So yes, my empathy is wide open."

Apollo rose to his feet, moving to meet Ardyn with a wide smile, and his hand held out. "It's good to see you, Ardyn. You look well."

Ardyn took the extended hand, shook it. "As do you, Apollo. It's good to see all of you. Logan, Kili," he smiled at them, which had their family tensing, but then forcing themselves to relax. "I thought you'd both been posted to the Galactica, not that we aren't glad to see you back, of course."

"Thanks, Ardyn." Kili said, leaning lightly into his brother's side. Fili glanced at him, slid an arm around him and drew him closer still to his side, whispering in his ear. Kili nodded, murmured, "I'm fine, just a bit tired. That damn poison took a lot out of me."

"We were. We're to report to the Galactica once this case is complete."

"I see. Kili, you're a bit pale. Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine, Ardyn."

Ardyn's head tilted a bit as he studied him. "If you're sure." He turned his head again. "And weren't you three," he pointed to Apollo, Dylan, and Colten, "supposed to be on leave?"

"We were, but we agreed to come here. We wanted to help Roark and Harry with this case so here we are. Our leaves have been postponed with the promise that once this case is finished, we can then finish our leave"

"Maybe." Aiden said with a look at them.

"Maybe? So, the rumors I've been hearing are true?"

"Depends on what you've been hearing, Ardyn." Robin said, looking over at him.

"Rumors of what, exactly?" Roark asked, reaching to open a drawer. "Ardyn, would you mind getting everyone drinks?" he drew out several files. "Harry and I weren't sure how many they were sending, so I've only got eight extra files."

"That's fine, Rory." Ethan said, taking the files he handed to him and passed them around. "We can share."

"Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, ambrosia, brandy, whiskey, or wine, boys?" Ardyn asked, moving to the sideboard.

"It's a bit too early for the liquor, so I'll have tea." Payton answered, moving to help him. "Rumor has it the Cylons have sued for peace."

Roark went very still, his silver eyes darkening a bit. "They've what?" he asked in shock. "Cylons wanting…Peace?" he shook his head. "Now why don't I believe that?"

"Because I'm not sure it's believable," Harry said as he began to boot up his computer, looking as surprised as Roark was, his emerald eyes just as dark.

A snort came from several around the room. "None of us believes it." Gareth, Rohan's Counter Intelligence partner, and husband of five yahrens {years} said from where he leaned against the wall, his gaze narrowed on Ardyn's back. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see," he took the mug of coffee from Payton, looking at Roark with a shrug.

Roark just shook his head. "What's the official word?" he asked, giving Payton a warm smile when he set a steaming mug of tea before him. "Oh Gods, thank you so much, Payton," he said reaching for it immediately, hearing his brother chuckle, making him look at him. "Shut up, Harry."

"Be careful, Rory," he said with a deep laugh, "that's very hot. Don't burn yourself." He passed Harry a mug, then carried the tray around disbursing mugs of tea, coffee and a few hot chocolates to his brothers and cousins.

"There hasn't been any official word yet," Aiden answered, a chuckle sounding as Roark sipped from his mug with a deep sigh. "That good, is it?" he asked sipping from his own mug of strong black coffee.

Roark looked over at him. "You have no idea," he said, his hands wrapped around the mug as he sipped once again. "I overslept this morning so I didn't have time to fix myself either coffee OR tea. I was dying for some caffeine."

"You never oversleep. What exactly, were you doing to make yourself so exhausted that you overslept?" Apollo asked his nephew with a raised brow, then looked over at Harry when he began to actually laugh this time. "Hadrian?"

A flush appeared on Roark's face as he looked from his brother over at Apollo. "Nothing you need to know about, Uncle. Harry, kindly remember you overslept as well," he said, then smirked when his brother looked at him, his face flushing now. He turned his attention to Aiden, who was watching the brothers with a smile of his own. "What about other sources, Aiden? Any word there?"

"Nothing. Everyone is being remarkably silent on the whole matter. Though there ARE rumors running rampant all through Colonial Headquarters. Those rumors seem to have the President and the Council of Twelve accepting the offer that has been put on the table."

A thoughtful look appeared on his face. "I see. What do Roark, Thorin, Dacian, Gabriel, and Raphael have to say about all this?"

"Not a damn thing. The five of them are being as remarkably closed mouthed about the subject as everyone else is," Sebastien sat on the arm of his husband's chair, looking at Roark. "More than a few of us have asked, of course, but they either CAN'T, or WON'T answer."

"Personally, I think it's more along the lines that they won't," Morgan said as Gwydion brought him his cup of coffee, then sat on the floor, his back to his partner's legs, sipping his hot chocolate and making a contented hum.

"Dylan said he and Kaden managed to corner Schyler while they were at Headquarters just before we came here. Sky said he didn't know anything."

Roark's head turned with a raised brow. "You don't believe him, Kaden?"

Both men shook their heads as Kaden answered. "No way. Whatever Raph knows, Schyler knows, and vice versa."

"It's a conspiracy of silence," Roark murmured, his thoughtful look deepening, changing. "How…odd." His eyes took on a shuttered look, his thoughts hidden…or so he thought anyway. "Very odd," he murmured.

"Roark?" came from several Durin's as well as his brother, all at the same time, looking at each other worriedly.

"Hum…?" He wasn't paying attention as he booted up both his laptop and his computer.

"Rory, what is it?" Rohan asked, a sharp snap to his tone, drawing him out of his rioting thoughts.

He blinked, his eyes clearing as he turned his head to look at him. "What?" he asked.

"You were lost very deeply in your thoughts, Roark. What is it?"

"Oh, sorry Rohan. It's nothing. It's just…" he paused, then shook his head. "No, never mind. A seed of a thought not yet germinated. Give me some time to think on it, and I'll work it out eventually. Once I do, I'll bring it to all of you, I promise."

"Just so long as you do."

"So…Logan and Kili have told you all everything I assume?"

"They have. Where do you stand right now?"

"Same place we stood after we sent them away. Other than a few raids, it's been uncharacteristically quiet."

"Any idea why? You'd think Riddle would take advantage of all the losses you've sustained."

"I think he probably would have, but for one major problem. The Terminator that was hired to kill Tristyn screwed up."

"Screwed up?" Gwydion sat forward. "Rodolphus Lestrange? From what little we know of him, he's too smart, too careful, too much of a shadow to make that kind of mistake."

"That's because Rodolphus didn't, Gwyn. He kills by contract only. He was contracted to kill me. Not Tristyn. Not Logan, and not Kili. Nor anyone else. Just as Rabastan was hired to kill Harry. No. Whoever killed Tristyn is the one who screwed up. His death was way too public, and there is nothing Riddle hates more than that kind of publicity. It wouldn't surprise me if-" the com link on his desk beeped and he reached blindly to answer it. "Yes?"

"Lt. Roark, Security Agent Corporal Corin. You asked to be notified if we were to find an unidentified body?"

Roark's head snapped around to look at the screen. "Yes, I did. Where, and is the body male or female?"

"Both, Sir," he answered. "There's a female. They've just pulled HER out of the Aqualeen River. She matches the description of the woman last seen with Lt. Tristyn. The male was found near one of the pleasure houses you raided last night. He matches the description of the man who took a couple shots at you last night."

"Cause of death for both?"

"There's a hole in the woman's chest where her heart should be. The man had a knife wound, also to the heart, and his throat was also slit, though the wound there is much too jagged to be a knife."

"High powered laser pistol set to kill then. Of all Riddle's Terminator's, only Rodolphus, Bellatrix and Rabastan carry that powerful a weapon. As for the man…" he shook his head. "You'd think they'd stop trying after the tenth one turned up dead for failure. It also sounds like a double kill."

"Sir?"

"Nothing, Corporal, just talking to myself. Thank you for letting me know."

"No trouble, Sir," he saluted and ended the call.

The screen went dark, and Roark sat back in his chair, his hands lifting, finger's twining under his chin as he looked at them with a deep look of satisfaction. "So, as I was about to say, it wouldn't surprise me if a body was found. I wasn't expecting two, though I guess I should have. That Rodolphus was the one to take care of them both, with Rabastan helping him on the man, is also no surprise."

"Because they cleans up messes."

"If they feels it's worthy of their time, or if Riddle orders them to deal with the problem, then yes, they've been known to clean up a few messes." 'And knowing how upset I was about Tristyn', he thought, 'orders or not, he'd have done something about the woman.' He looked back up, noticing the frowns that had appeared on the faces of Ethan, Rohan, Desmond, Colten, Dylan and Kili. Not to mention a few other Durin's had questioning looks in their eyes.

"That was a very good guess, Roark, but what about the man?"

"That wasn't a guess, Morgan," Desmond said with a soft chuckle, turning his gaze from Roark. "We learned some time ago that Roark very rarely guesses about anything. He knows Riddle, knows how he thinks, how he'll react to a given situation, and how he'll move after we've struck at him. As for the man…Rodolphus has been killing any Terminator that attempts to kill Roark."

"Why would he do that?"

"Because he holds the contract to kill me, Jacen," he answered, grinning and raising a brow when he noticed the way he and Kili kept stealing looks at the other when they thought the other wasn't looking. "He's just too busy, both playing games with me and cleaning up the messes being left by others to do anything about me yet."

"And you, Harry? Why hasn't Rabastan done anything about you?"

Because I'm sleeping with him, he thought. Instead he said, "Because he's having too much fun playing his little game of hide, seek, and taunt."

"What about the other stuff? How do you know all that, Roark?"

He shook his head. "I'm really not sure, Ryder. Until recently I didn't understand…hell, half the time, I STILL don't understand how I know, or knew some of the things I did, or do."

"Now you do?"

"No, Morgan, not really. Look, we don't have the time for me to go into a full explanation of how, when, why, where and everything else that goes with it. Let's just say I know what I know and go from there."

Gwydion nudged his partner, and when he looked down at him, he shook his head. 'Later,' he mouthed to him, and Morgan nodded.

"So, what now?" Colten asked, looking up from the file he'd been looking through. "From the looks of this file, you two have been very thorough. It looks like you've gotten about halfway through these lists."

"We have, and now that the woman is dead, things should begin to start moving once again." Alexei said. "Once we-"

Roark, who'd been looking around the room, spotted something…something that was out of place. Jumping to his feet, he began to move, bringing everyone alert. They watched him move to a picture on the wall above the sideboard, turn it over and grin. From the back, he pulled a folded slip of paper, opened it, and read what had been written on it.

"Explode is more like it," he said, looking up with a grin. "From one of our friends. There will probably be another one in either Fili's office, or in Alexei, or Jordan's."

Desmond stood, moved to his side. "I'll go check in a moment. What does he say, Rory?"

"Quite a lot," he answered, handing the note over. "He's been busy, it seems. According to what our friend wrote, Riddle's been consolidating these last three sectons {week} and is apparently ready to begin moving again. He's got drug shipments coming in from Scorpia, Taura, and Leo. Two shipments going out, one to Piscia and one to Caprica. There's a shipment from the slavers coming from Cancer, and another from Taura. We're going to intercept, and confiscate those shipments," a quick, barely perceptible eye shift except to those who were watching him closely.

"We're going to have to figure out where and when," Harry spoke up as he stood, moved to Harry and took the note from his hand, began to skim it, "but hopefully that won't be as hard as it sounds as there are really only a few places he can ship from, and probably a few more than that he can receive shipments. Ardyn, can you loan us…" he looked thoughtful for a moment, "what do you think Rory? Twelve to fourteen of his people?"

"Yeah, that should be good."

A very slight pause. "Of course, Harry. What do you plan on doing first?"

"There's a gambling den at the end of Water Place Canal, a pleasure house near the river and a new drug den popped up a few steps from there. We're going to have to be careful though. Our friend says that Riddle has put better trained guards in place, and they have orders to shoot to kill."

"Sounds like our friend may have taken a few risks of his own to put together this much information."

"He's probably beginning to feel as I do. This needs to end, and for that to happen, chances are going to have to be taken. We need to bring this to a head. Fast."

"Roark?" came the quiet question.

"Yes, Ardyn?" he asked, turning his head to meet the hazel gaze.

"Do you have any idea at all who our friends may be?"

'I wouldn't tell you even if I did,' he thought with some anger. "None. Only Admiral Roark, Commander Thorin, Dacian, Gabriel, Raphael, and Schyler know who he is, and they aren't talking. Kale knew, but said nothing to Logan, Fili, and Kili. We'll find out who they are when they decide it's time for us to know, and not before."

"Which, I think, will very likely be when we face Riddle for the final time." Alexei said as he rose to his feet, moved to where Roark and Harry stood and took the paper from Harry's hand to look at it.

"When do you want to move, Rory?" Dylan asked with a grin.

"Are you guys ready to get your feet wet?"

"Let's go for it." Aidan said as everyone nodded. "There's no time like the present."

"Then we can begin tonight. Let's put Riddle off guard by being the first to strike. One more thing," he looked around the room, "except for those in this room, we don't discuss anything with anyone else. What we say in this office, stays in this office."

"How many actual leaks do you have, Roark?"

"That we know for sure? Seven, and I think it's time we shut them up," he looked up at his brother. "What do you think?"

Harry nodded. "Agreed. If we want to move and keep what we're planning even semi quiet, we need to shut them up."

Roark returned to his desk then, sat, and reached out to pull open a drawer, not seeing Ardyn tense, though several others did, and each shared a look with the others. He drew out a sheet of paper, grabbed a pen, and wrote quickly. "Aiden," he handed over the list.

Aiden took it from him, read it, nodded and stood. "Kaden, Jaden, Taylor, Gwydion, Morgan, Ryder, Dylan, Colten, Dante, you're with me."

"Ardyn," Roark looked at him as those named stood, and left his office, "pick fourteen of your best people. I want you ready to move when I call for you."

He nodded, got to his feet. "We're moving against him full force then?"

"We are. No more mister nice. I'm tired of playing cat and mouse games with that man and his Terminator's. It's time to end this once and for all."

"And Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange?"

"Harry and I will deal with Rodolphus and Rabastan when the time comes, Ardyn. You just take care of what I asked you too."

"I'll just go and get the team together then, shall I?" he said, giving him a smile, before he too left the office.

They watched him go, then quietly, "Rory?"

Roark turned his head. "We can't touch him without any real proof, Logan. You know as well as I do, everything we have at this point is circumstantial. He's just covered his tracks very well."

"Or, as I said earlier, maybe you're all just plain wrong." Apollo said.

Roark shook his head. "No one wishes more than I do that we are, Uncle, but we aren't."

Apollo stared at his young nephew for the longest time, looked over at Harry, then to Logan, at Fili and Kili, at Alexei, Desmond, Jordan, and Tyler, then finally back to his nephew. He sighed deeply. "Alright. If you're all that sure, I'll see what I can do about getting you your proof, but I need you to swear to me that you're absolutely positive he's your main leak."

Roark reached into his jacket pocket, drew out a folded slip of paper. "Destroy this once you've read it."

He took the paper, looked down at it, back up. "Why?"

"Because it was left in my apartment sometime yesterday evening. If it's from who I think it is, and it gets into the wrong hands, the information that slip contains can get him killed."

"Him, who? How do you know you can trust the person who left you this?"

Roark shook his head. "I can't answer that."

"Can't or WON'T, Roark?" he was asked.

Roark met his Uncle's eyes. "Alright, yes, I can, but I won't. If I'm right about who left that for me, he went to a great deal of personal risk to find that and get it to me. I will not betray his trust in me."

Apollo nodded, read what was on the paper, then, before the eyes of those still in the office, tossed it into the trash container, drew his laser, and fired a low-level blast into the metal can. "It may take me some time," he said softly.

Alexei lay a hand on his shoulder, squeezed. "I know, all of us who have served with him aboard the Galactica, just how hard this is. No matter how well he hides it, he's become a pain med junkie, and a lot of what he's taking can only be obtained from one place. Friend or not, this has to be stopped. And we need to see to it, as his friends that he gets the help he needs."

Apollo nodded, turned to go to the door, where he stopped to look back at those still there. "I really hope you're all wrong about this."

"So do we, Uncle Apollo" Harry said quietly, "but we're not. Everything points to him. One more thing. Not alone."

"I can take care of myself, Hadrian."

"Of course you can. I never once said you couldn't."

"As could all of those who have died. Our team was one of the best, Uncle, yet one by one, when they were alone, in places they felt the safest in, or just when they lowered their guards, they were murdered. Even Logan and Kili have been attacked where they felt they were the safest. No. We're not letting you take that kind of a chance with your life."

"I'll go with him, Rory." Garath said as he got to his feet, leaning down to press a light kiss to Rohan's lips. "I'll see you soon."

Rohan smiled, lifting a hand to brush a strand of hair out of his eyes. "Be careful."

"Always," he stood and moved to where Apollo waited. "Come on, Apollo. We don't have as much time to find what we need to find as I'd like."

Once they had left the office, Roark's head fell back against his leather chair, his eyes slipping closed. It was a few moments later that he felt fingers begin to sift through his hair. Opening his eyes and turning his head, he met Harry's green eyes. "What is it Rory?"

"He's so goddamned conflicted, Harry. He's more determined to find proof that Ardyn is innocent, than guilty."

"But he won't find it, and we all know that."

"No, and it's going to affect his faith in the Warriors Code."

"It affects us all when we find a warrior who's gone bad, Rory." Dylan said quietly. "It's only a small part of why we of Counter Intelligence, do what we do."

Roark shook his head looking around at all of them. "Does it ever get any easier?"

"When it turns out to be friends? People we trust with our lives? No…I'm afraid it will never get any easier."

Roark nodded. He stood suddenly, turned and went to the shielded windows behind his desk. Reaching over, he pressed a button, allowing the metal slates to lift, letting in bright, winter sunlight. Hands settled on his shoulders, began to knead the knotted muscles. He sighed, his head rolling, then falling forward.

"Ethan," he whispered.

"You can't remain this open, Rory," he said softly, turning him around, slipping his fingers under chin to tilt his head up, blue eyes meeting silver…holding. "Do the two of you really trust those Terminator's so much?

"With my life," he answered immediately.

Harry moved to Roark's side. "As do I. Neither of them have ever lied to us."

"It will BE your life if you're wrong about them."

"We're not wrong, Ethan." He returned with a sure tone.

A deep breath sounded from behind and to the left of them, making them turn. "You've fallen in love with him!" he gasped in surprise. Then he looked at Harry. "You both have."

"Kili-"

"Roark, Harry, they're Terminators. Cold-blooded killers who work for the man we're trying to take down, the man who murdered your parents."

"We know what they are, Kili!" he snapped more harshly than he'd intended, saw him flinch. He sighed, then went on in a softer tone, "I'm sorry, Ki, I shouldn't be snapping at you like that, but I also know what he isn't. What they BOTH aren't. Don't you remember Tristyn's last words to us before he passed?"

"That Rodolphus and Rabastan are not what they seemed to be. He made it sound like the Lestrange's were holding some secret very close to their chest."

A smile. "Exactly."

Harry gave him a smile as well. "And so they are."

"Then what are they?"

Harry snorted, amusement clear in his emerald gaze as Roark answered, "Now THAT is the question, isn't it? What those secrets may be, we can only guess at, but I would rather not make the wrong guess. When the time is right, and when it is safe for him and for Rabastan to do so, they'll tell us, and not before."

"Then for now," Robin moved to stand between them, slipping his arms around each of them, bending to press a kiss to each of their temples, "enough said, but if they ever hurt either of you…well then-" he felt Roark tense suddenly. "What is it?"

"My God," he breathed, drawing free of Robin's arm, and turning to look out the window, his eyes searching.

"Are they out there, brother?"

"Oh yes Harry, they're out there, and they are BOTH jealous as hell," a grin twisted his lips. He turned his head, looking at Harry with a little smile. "We're going to have some explaining to do when we see them again."

"You realize, of course," Sebastien said as he moved to stand beside him, looking out the window. He saw movement, and his eyes narrowed on the alleyway opening across the street, "that we're going to want to have a nice long talk with the two of them when this is all over. Alone."

They both turned to look at him, wry expressions in both of their gazes. "Of course, you will." Roark said.

"Damn all you Durin's and your protectiveness." Harry said.

Laughter sounded around the room. "We can't help who we are, boys. We're very protective of those we love, and we love both you scamps very much." Alexei said with deep affection in his tone.

"I know. That's why we love all of you just as much. It's like having another family."

cccVccc

They moved on the first location on Roark and Harry's lists, a gambling den, two centars {hours} after sunset, storming the building through several entrances. They arrested several of the patrons that hadn't been fast enough to escape, as well as all those that were working there.

"Captain Gwydion, Captain Desmond seize all the files and disks from the office, Lt. Damien, help Lt. Kili collect all the information from the computers, then wipe them. Lt. Colonel Aidan, Captain Payton, take some men and seal the building." Roark's order came quickly after the fighting had ended.

"You're going to regret this, Lieutenant," came in a dangerous tone from one of the men being led past him. Then his gaze shifted to Harry who stood at his side, almost like a guard. "You both will."

Roark raised a dark bow at the man. "Perhaps so, but your boss is going to regret a whole lot more by the time we're done with him," he looked at the warrior holding the man. "Take him away, Lt. Someone will be by the holding cells to question him further."

"Yes sir, Lieutenant Roark."

cccVccc

And so it began.

Over the next few days and nights, Roark, Harry and their fellow Counter Intelligence Officers moved against four gambling dens, three pleasure houses, and five drug dens. They also set out to halt all out-going and in-coming shipments of drugs, the slave ships as well as all other smuggled goods.

They were also finally able to locate what warehouses Riddle was using to store the goods he wasn't immediately able to dispose of and set about confiscating those as well. He stood outside the third warehouse they'd moved on a night a couple of sectons {week} later, silent, watchful as crates of smuggled goods were brought out to be loaded into the waiting transports.

"Roark."

He turned to look up into worried blue eyes. "Sebastien."

"When was the last time you went home?" he asked quietly.

"This morning," he answered.

He frowned at his answer. "I'm not talking about a shower and a clean uniform, Roark. When was the last time you went home? Had a nice, long, hot bath? Got into your bed and got a full night's sleep?" his voice lowered when he saw Ardyn moving closer to where they stood. "When, Roark, was the last time you spent the night in the arms of your lover?"

"I'm getting enough sleep, Bastien," he said in a defensive tone.

"A few centars {hours} on the couch in your office does not count as a full night's restful sleep. At home, in your own bed, with your lover, does. I'm quite sure someone has been wondering where you are?"

A smirk twisted his lips. "He knows very well where I am, Sebastien."

A soft chuckle. "Yes, I'm sure he does, but still…" he turned his head, looking around until... "Harry! Fili!"

Harry and Fili turned as one, saw Sebastien standing with Roark from where they, Kili, Ethan, Dylan and Colten were supervising the loading of two of the transports with Aiden, talking to each other quietly. He spoke a few words to Aiden, then after a nod, the five of them turned and moved over to them.

"What's up?" Harry asked, looking worriedly at his brother's pale face, seeing the near exhaustion in his silver eyes. "Rory," he began softly, "this can't go on, little brother."

"And it isn't going to. As your transports are nearly loaded, Harry, I would like it very much if the six of you would escort Roark back to his apart-"

"Sebastien, I'm fi-"

Sebastien gave him a stern, silencing look. "You may be in command here, Roark Christopher Potter, but I am still Chief Medical Officer, and AS the CMO, and a Major, I out rank you, Lieutenant. Understood?"

Roark nodded.

"I can't hear you, Lieutenant Roark."

"Yes sir, Doctor-Major Sebastien."

"Good. Now, I'm going to have Harry, and the boys escort you back to your apartment," he said, pulling a small bottle from the pocket of his scarlet jacket. "I'm ordering you to take two of these tablets, a hot bath, then I want you to get into bed. I don't want to see you at Headquarters until at least mid-morning tomorrow. Say, around eleven hundred or so. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Bastien, but…" he took the full bottle, frowned at them, before looking back up at him. "What are they?"

"A sedative. Something that will help you relax and fall asleep."

"Rory," Ethan stepped forward as Roark continued to frown, staring at the bottle. "Look at me, please." Once Roark looked up, he spoke again, "Whether you want to admit it or not," the not that Harry muttered had him looking over at him before turning his gaze back to Roark, "you're exhausted. You know as well as we do just how dangerous that can be, right now."

He sighed deeply, then turned away so that none of them could see his mask fall, not that it mattered, for they saw his shoulders slump, and they could feel what he felt. "I have to stop him before anyone else dies," he said in a near whisper.

"Oh Rory," Harry stepped in behind him, set his hands on his so tense shoulders, began to knead them. "It wasn't your fault."

"Harry's right Rory, Gareth's death wasn't your fault and you are not in this alone." Ethan said gently as Kili moved to slip an arm around his friend, drawing him into his side for a hug even as Harry hugged him from behind. "We all thought the house had been cleared and secured. None of us noticed that hidden door until it was too late."

Another sigh as he turned his head into Kili's shoulder, leaning back into his brother. "I know, but that doesn't make it any easier. I mean, Rohan's lost more than his partner, he's lost his husband."

"Yes, he did, but Rohan will be alright with time, and we're all here for him when he needs us. He knows all he needs to do is ask. I thought you knew that too."

He closed his eyes, feeling his exhaustion begin to get the better of him now that they had him thinking again. "I do. I just didn't want to think about it. Remembering Rohan's scream, seeing Garath fall, the look on Rohan's face when you and Robin told him there was nothing you could do. I just wanted to work, to forget for a little while."

"Why do you think I took Rohan off active duty for the next couple of secton's {weeks}? You're not going to make me do the same to you, are you?"

"No, Sebastien."

"Good. Aiden, Alexei and I will take over here and lead the final raid on that drug den. Boy's take him home, then meet us back at headquarters for the meeting." He looked at Harry as he released his brother from his arms. "YOU are to go home as well, Harry. Don't think for one moment that I don't know you're not sleeping, either. That you have spent nearly as many days in your office as Rory has. You have a lover as well that is likely wondering why you aren't coming home." He drew a second bottle out of his pocket, handed them to him. "Take two, take a bath, then go to bed. I want to see you BOTH well rested in the morning."

Harry took the bottle, saw his brother's grin and had to smile. He no more liked taking sleeping pills then Rory did. He hated waking up feeling groggy. "Will I feel groggy when I wake up?"

"If you get enough sleep, then no."

Harry nodded. "Fine. Let's get moving guys."

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"Would you like one of us to stay with you?" Kili asked softly after they had dropped Harry at his apartment next door to Roark's. "I'm sure Aiden and Bastien wouldn't mind."

Roark drew the key card from his pocket, gave Kili a warm smile. "No, Ki. I'll be alright," he answered, pushing the card into the slot, entered his code, then watched as the security pad beside the door went from red too green and his door slid open.

"Take those tablets, Rory. Like Harry, I know you don't like taking things like that, but Sebastien wouldn't have given them to you if he didn't think you needed them."

"I know, Fi. Good night guys."

"Good night. Sleep well, Rory." Dylan leaned in to press a kiss to his brow, followed by Ethan, Colten, then FIli and Kili.

"We'll do a quick sweep of the grounds before we go." Colten said.

"If you need anything, anything at all, you call one of us."

"I will, Ethan," he said with a nod. "Thanks, guys." He entered his dark, cool apartment, and knowing they'd wait until he did, he secured the door, then entered the security alarm.

"Alarm activated," came the computer activated voice. "The apartment is secure."

Without turning on any lights, he moved past the living area, the dark doorway into his kitchen, then down the hallway to enter his bathroom. "Lights low," he said, moving to the large, deep tub, set the heating element, then turned on the water. Turning, he then went to the sink, turned on the water, picked up his toothbrush, brushed his teeth, then pulled the bottle of pills out of his pocket. He opened it, tipped two of the dark blue tablets into his hand, looking at them.

"Just what, lover, are you planning to take?" came his deep, concerned voice.

He lifted his head, silver eyes meeting sherry brown in the mirror over his sink. He was leaning against the door jamb, arms crossed over his black silk covered chest, watching him worriedly.

"Sebastien said they were a sedative. Something that would help me relax enough to fall asleep and STAY asleep."

"You can't really expect to shut him down in a few short sectons {week}," he pushed away from the door, crossing the tile floor to wrap his arms around him drawing him back against his chest.

"I don't, but that's only a very small part of why I'm not sleeping well, Dolph."

"Lt. Gareth's death."

"In part. Worry over Rohan is also part of it," he murmured. "There's also the dreams."

"Dreams?" he asked lips pressing to the spot just behind his ear on his neck that made him shiver and Rodolphus smile against his skin as he nipped with his teeth. "You're so sensitive, love. What kind of dreams, baby?"

"The kind that have kept me from coming home these last couple of sectons {week}," he popped the pills into his mouth, drank some water, swallowed. He turned into his arms then, his head settling against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, not wanting to be looking at him when he told him.

"There are several, but there are two that are more frequent then the others," he murmured.

Rodolphus moved his hands slowly over his back as the tub, having reached its fill point, shut off. "Tell me what is upsetting you, Rory."

He closed his eyes, said in a soft voice. "In one, I watch you die in my arms. In the other, it's me in yours. GODS, Rodolphus, I'm so fucking tired of watching us die in the other's arms."

Fingers slipped under his chin, lifting his face to brush a soft kiss to his lips. "I'm quite sure you are. I wouldn't be very happy if I had to watch that either. How long until those pills begin to take effect?"

"He said to take a bath, then get into bed."

"Then let's get ourselves undressed."

He blinked. "You're going to take a bath with me?"

"I was planning on it. Unless you'd rather-"

"No! I'd love for you to share my bath. I just…we've never bathed together."

"That's because I can only come to you at certain times of the night," he said a smirk twisting his lips as he removed the last of his clothes, then helped Roark remove the rest of his uniform. "Getting away from Bella is becoming more and more difficult. Kobol, babe, I will never get over just how gorgeous you are."

Roark grinned. "You aren't so bad yourself, lover," he said, moving behind him to lay gentle hands on his back. "These are laser whip marks," he said softly, feeling him tense. "Will you tell me how you got them?" he asked, leaning in to press gentle kisses to them.

Rodolphus turned, took his hands and pulled him to the tub. "Eventually," he answered, stepping into the steaming water, then pulling Roark in with him. "But not tonight," he reached for the cloth and soap gel.

"But you will soon?"

"Yes, love, soon," he said, beginning to wash him.

cccVccc

"So, who was he?" he asked quietly, his hand moving soothingly over Roark's back and shoulders as they lay pressed together in bed.

"Who?" came sleepily as he snuggled closer to the so warm body, his cheek rubbing against his chest, left hand resting over his heart, a leg slipping between his.

"In your office that morning? The tall, dark haired one who put his arm around you, kissed your temple."

"Umm…" his eyes had slipped closed. Damned sedatives, he thought sleepily. "That was Robin."

"Robin," came with more than a bit of coolness, and a growl.

"Umm hum, and don't you dare Rodolphus Lestrange," he warned, forcing his eyes open and tilting his head back to meet his eyes. "Doctor-Major Robert Stranton-Durin. Robin. He's Sebastien's husband of nearly eight yahren {year}." A grin. "Jealous much?"

"Jealous a lot," he replied with a grin if his own, "but as I now know he's the husband of a Durin, I won't have to kill him for daring to lay hands on you."

"RO…DOLPHUS!" A hard smack against his chest.

Rodolphus chuckled softly. "Stop fighting the sedative, Rory," he murmured into his ear, tucking his head back under his chin, turning into him. "Go to sleep, baby. I'll guard any dreams you may have."

"Umm, you're empathic too?"

"Hum…among other things. Just let go now, babe. Sleep. For tonight, you're safe."

"I'm safe any night-" a sudden huge yawn as he snuggled closer to his warmth, "I'm with you."

"Yes, my love, you are," he murmured.

cccVccc

He woke to bright sunshine flooding his room from the patio doors, and an insistent beep from his communicator. Realizing he was alone in his bed, he reached out blindly to pick it up. Pressing the button to answer it, he snarled. "WHAT?"

"Oh…hh…grouchy," came the always cheerful voice of one of his best friends, chuckling as he said, "Harry snarled at me too."

"Logan," he yawned, sat up. "Sorry. You woke me. Time?"

"Just before eleven hundred. We'll be at your place in half a centar {hour}. I hope you're hungry, we're bringing breakfast."

"Sounds good. He'll just cross our shared garden terrace. We?" he asked, tossing back the blanket and sheet. "Just who is we, Logan?" he asked, getting out of bed and stretching.

"Fili, Kili, Lexi, Desmond, Ethan, Colten, Rohan-"

"Alright, alright, enough. I'm about to be inundated by Durin boys." He heard laughter through the link. "I'll get dressed and get water going for tea, or coffee."

"Roark?"

"Yes, Kili?"

"Is he there?"

"No, Ki. He never stays much past early morning dawn."

"Who?" came from several of the Durin boys, at least, those who didn't know he had a lover.

"No one," he answered them. "See you all soon." He ended the cell.

Well, how about that? He thought. Rodolphus had sent the whole night with him, and they hadn't even thought about having sex. Of course, he'd been sedated with sleeping meds. Still there had been this morning, before he left.

Roark moved to his closet, pulled out a clean uniform, tossed it onto his unmade bed. The sedatives would have, he knew, worn off by the time Rodolphus would have had to leave. Surely, he could have woken him, but he hadn't. He'd let him sleep, pulling his covers up over his shoulders.

'Sex, Roark,' he remembered his grandfather telling him once, just before he'd left for Virgon, 'is a wonderful thing if you're with the right person, and a very nice way to let that special someone know that you desire them. However, you will not know if you're in a true relationship until you can simply spend some time together, talking, spending a night or two in his or her arms, just wanting to be with them without constantly wanting to have sex or make love.'

He already knew that his relationship with Rodolphus was real, unlike the one Rodolphus had with his wife. That it was a true one. His heart and soul, as well as his newly opened empathy told him that it was. Come to think of it…those shields Ethan and the others had been showing him how to build must be working, because he hadn't sensed Rodolphus had even entered his apartment until he'd spoken to him in the bathroom last night.

With a smile curving his lips, he left his bedroom, crossed the hall to his bathroom where he washed up quickly…no need to take a shower as he'd had a nice long, hot bath late last night. He brushed his teeth, ran a comb through his hair…hum, perhaps it was time to ask Alexei for another haircut so that his hair would stop falling into his eyes.

Back in his bedroom moments later, he pulled on his uniform, then sat on the bed to pull on his boots, buckling them on. He stood then, reaching for his weapons belt hanging from the corner of the bedpost on his headboard.

A soft rustle of paper drew his attention, and it was then that he noticed the changes…the addition of three knives to his belt. One rested inside his holster, between his laser and right thigh. A second knife rested at his left hip, and the third blade would rest at the small of his back, its sheathed blade pointed upward and well hidden by the scarlet jacket.

Drawing the folded sheet of paper out from where it was neatly tucked between the laser and the knife, he set it down on the night stand, buckled the belt on, tying the thin leather strap around his thigh to keep the holster from swinging too much as he walked or ran depending on given circumstances. Picking up the paper, he opened it as he left his room, reading with a smile.

'Good morning, love. You were sleeping so soundly I just didn't have the heart to wake you. As I'm sure you've noticed (as you are SO observant)," Roark chuckled. "I've made some changes to your weapons belt by adding leather sheaths and three of my personal knives, but don't worry, I have more to replace what I've given you.'

Roark snorted. "Of course, you do. What proper, self-respecting Terminator wouldn't?" he said as he went on reading. 'This way, should you ever happen to lose your laser, you'll have a second weapon to fall back on. Come home tonight, baby, and as soon as I can get away, I'll come to you. I'll teach you how to use those knives efficiently enough to hopefully one day save your life.'

Roark stopped reading suddenly, though Rodolphus had written a bit more. He blinked, his eyes going wide in stunned disbelief as he stared at the writing. It hit him hard as he realized what he was looking at. 'This writing!' his mind screamed. "I recognize this hand writing!' Hurrying over to his desk, he quickly unlocked a drawer, yanked it open and pulled out the files he had stored there. He searched through them until he found the one he wanted. Yanking it out, he slapped it onto his desk, opened the file, and began to compare the note Rodolphus had written to each of the ones in the file.

"By the Lords of Kobol!" he gasped, looking from one to the other. "I was…right," he breathed in true, stunned disbelief. "But…how?"

How could this be? He'd had so many suspicions, but with all the inconsistencies of Rodolphus' actions since they'd met…from the way he did, or said certain things, the way he'd reacted to certain things. The things he'd read, and what he'd felt when Rodolphus had first appeared in his apartment. Then, when they had become lovers…

There were just too many inconsistencies. There was nothing about Rodolphus Corvus Lestrange that had ever added up. Then there had been Tristyn's words that Rodolphus was not who he seemed to be, and the idea had returned to the fore front of his mind. He should have seen, should have known better then to discount…

So just who the hell was this man he knew to be Tom Riddle's left hand man, his top Terminator? And now that he thought about it…What about Rabastan? Was he their other informant? Who was this man whose outside appearance was this hard, ice cold, very deadly killer? This man he'd found to be so different from what he showed on the outside, to what he knew to be on the inside. Who was the man he'd taken into his bed, into his heart, and soul? This man he was so deeply in love with now because of what he'd felt and seen beneath that frontal façade he showed to everyone else but him.

Sweet Gods, who was this man who had become everything to him in so short a time? Who—

"RORY!"

"Roark!"

He had been so lost in the riot of his own emotions and thoughts, he had not heard his alarm deactivate, or the door open. He whirled, looking up when he'd heard those so alarmed, worried shouts from his brother and probably Logan, only to be further overwhelmed by all of their thoughts and emotions.

He felt arms go around him suddenly, looking up into deep emerald eyes, barely seeing his brothers midnight hair, before he gasped sharply and everything around him went black. He let himself fall into blessed unconsciousness then.

"His shields have collapsed," Ethan said calmly, kneeling beside Harry to lay a hand on Roark's forehead.

"What the fuck happened?!" Alexei demanded harshly. "Here Harry, let me have him," he said, taking Roark from his brother. "Ethan? Rohan?"

"I don't know, Lex. His mind is in complete chaos." Rohan answered. "I can't pick up on any single thought."

"He's in emotional, and mental shock," Ethan said, watching as Alexei lifted Roark. "He's discovered something. Something he thought was a possibility but had discounted as not believable."

"Never mind that, right now," Sebastien said. "We'll figure it all out once we've woken Roark. Lexi bring him to the couch. Payton, I'm going to need a mug of tea."

Alexei carried Roark to the couch as Payton hurried into the kitchen. As he lay him down, the others immediately began to converge. "Stop," Robin ordered, stepping between them and the couch. "Only Harry for the moment. Let's not all crowd around him. Just back up and let Sebastien work first, shall we?" he said as Harry quickly knelt, taking Roark's hand in his.

"He's as white as a ghost," he breathed, looking up at Sebastien, "and his pulse is racing."

"Knives." Gwydion said, pointing.

"Knives?" Desmond asked, then he saw what his cousin was pointing at. "Where the hell did he get those? He didn't have them yesterday," he said as Sebastien knelt, taking Roark's wrist, fingers on his pulse point.

Logan reached out to draw one, looked at it. "They're Rodolphus'," he said, returning the blade to its sheath, then took a seat in the closest chair. "I'd recognize those blades anywhere as they are made especially for him."

"Why would Roark have two of that damn Terminator's knives on him?"

"There's actually three, Gwyn," came softly, "and because he gave them to me." His eyes blinked open. "Harry?"

"Right here," he said, squeezing the hand he held.

"Did he leave you a note too?"

A smirk. "As if the changes he made to my belt needed explaining. Idiot man. All he did was give himself away."

Roark began to try to sit up, but the world revolved a bit. "Oh, no you don't, young man" Sebastien said, pushing him to lie back down. "Your pulse is racing, your heartbeat isn't much better, and you're white as a ghost. Just be still for a few centons {minutes}."

Payton returned just then with a mug that was steaming. "Here's your tea, Bastien," he said, handing the mug to his older brother, then taking a seat on the arm of Logan's chair.

Ethan took a seat on the couch near Roark's knees. "What happened, kiddo? Every single one of your shields came down just as we entered."

A snort. "No kidding. I could feel what every single one of you was feeling. I-"

"Roark, hush. Ethan, wait a few microns {seconds}, would you? We'll get all the answers we need soon enough, but first," he opened the leather satchel he carried with him everywhere and drew out a small brown bottle. He opened it, measured several drops into the tea. "Alright, let's get you up," he said, and once he and Harry had him sitting up, he handed him the mug. "Drink, but be careful, it's hot."

A second snort sounded as Roark rolled his eyes. "It's steaming, Sebastien, of course it's hot," he sipped as several chuckles sounded from around the room.

"He must be feeling better if he can be his usual sarcastic self."

He turned his head, a dark brow raising at the speaker. "I'll have you know I'm not normally sarcastic Dylan, not unless someone is stupid enough to state the obvious." With that said, he returned his gaze to Sebastien, who shook his head, chuckling as he watched him sip the tea as several chuckles sounded around them, Harry taking a seat at his side, letting him lean against him.

"Your point is well received, Demon."

"Are you ready to tell us why your mind was so chaotic when we arrived?" Ethan asked as he watched Roark begin to calm and the chaos in his mind seemed to settle, to organize itself.

Silence was their answer, and they all saw the worry, the indecision in his eyes. "It's your mystery lover, isn't it? He's part of this mess somehow," Colten asked softly, watching as alarm flared in Roark's eyes, then turned his gaze on Harry. "Yours too. Harry. Rory, it's alright," he moved to sit in the arm of the couch beside him. "You can tell us anything. We will never judge, though we will express worry."

"Colten's right, boys." Aiden said, moving to kneel beside Ethan, a hand settling on his knee. "No judgements, no recriminations, but we can't help either of you if you don't talk to us."

"They may have been a mystery to some of you, but not to Logan, or any of the others still in the office after you and your team left to arrest our spies," he said quietly.

"Oh hell! You're sleeping with the Terminators!" Ryder gasped, coming up with the correct answer after listening closely, then thinking carefully about what he heard.

Gwydion looked over at him, then back to Roark and Harry, raising a dark brow of his own. "And no-one thought to tell us you were both sleeping with the Terminators that have been hired to kill you, why?"

"Because we asked them not to," Harry returned, his tone saying, 'hello, obvious'. "The fewer who knew, the safer they are. As it is, too many people know that Rabastan and I are lovers, and that Rory and Rodolphus are lovers."

"Gwydion, hush." Aiden ordered his cousin, seeing him open his mouth to reply. "I'm quite sure we'll get that whole story." His brow rose at he looked at both of them. "Well, boys?" he asked

Roark shook his head, sighed. "How is it I can be so deeply in love with the man, and yet still know so little about him?"

A deep sigh as Harry shook his head, confusion obvious in his eyes. "Same here."

"Hello? They're Terminators-"

"Gwydion!" Aiden snapped harshly, throwing a glare at him.

Gwydion raised his hands. "Just saying."

Aiden opened his mouth to scold his cousin further when fingers reached out to tap the top of his hand, drawing his attention away from Gwydion and back to Roark, who shook his head. "Don't," he murmured. "He's right. Rodolphus and Rabastan are indeed hard, ice cold, very deadly killers, and yet it's like…" he drifted off, his eyes dropping to his hands.

"Like what, honey?" Robin asked gently, squeezing himself between Roark and the edge of the couch, slipping an arm around him, hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Like they're two totally different men when they're with us," Harry said when Roark didn't immediately saw anything, relaxing completely against his brother as Roark settled himself against Robin. "There's what everyone sees…what they WANT them to see. Then there's what they let us see."

"Harry's right," came softly. "What others see on the outside is NOT what we see, or what we know is on the inside." He tilted his head back, looking up at him with a grin. "You know, it's a good thing Sebastien isn't as jealous of me as Rodolphus is of you."

A snort. "You should have heard Basti, then he threw me on the bed and—" he broke off suddenly amid seep chuckles as his face went red. "Yeah. Well, let's just say we worked everything out."

"Sebastien, darling, knows he has absolutely nothing to be jealous OF. Your Rodolphus, however, has no clue that I'm no threat to him, or his relationship with you," he grinned, "but don't worry. He'll learn eventually."

"My Rodolphus," he murmured, his smile vanishing. "How can he be my ANYTHING when he doesn't trust me?" he asked, pain evident in his voice.

Robin tapped a finger to his nose. "I think he trusts you a hell of a lot more than you seem to think he does. Think about it," he raised a brow. "The man is married, and yes, by all accounts ,the marriage is a bad one, yet he comes to you nearly every night. He spends the night with you, makes love to you, and if I'm not very much mistaken, he has saved your life more than a few times. I happen to know for a fact that the shots that killed those men, the ones that were aiming for you on any number of our previous raids, didn't come from any of us, though it certainly SEEMED like they did."

"They didn't?" he looked around the room, saw several of them shake their heads. "Damn him! He's taking too many risks! If anyone else was paying as close of attention as you…they'll begin to wonder…put two and two together, then tell Riddle. That idiot! I'm going to have to have a talk with him about that," he sighed. "It wasn't always like this. Not at first, but like Lexi said, the kind of passion that was between us was very hard to deny, or resist. We just couldn't seem to stay away from each other, and the more we were together, the hotter we burned, the stronger the feelings we felt about each other became."

"It was supposed to be just sex," Harry said softly, a small smile twisting his lips. "It was never supposed to be more than that one night, but then it happened again…and again. The harder we TRIED to stay away from each other, the more we couldn't. Then everything just…changed. For all four of us."

"Tell us about it," Kaden sat on the carpeted floor, his back to Logan's legs. "Tell us about them."

"Alright. But what we tell you," he looked around the room at each of those who hadn't been in his office, "can go no further than this room. Their lives depends on it."

They nodded their agreement, and so, slowly they began to tell them, starting with the night Rodolphus and Rabastan had first appeared in their apartment to issue their warnings and threats. None of them spoke, simply sat and listened to them as they spoke. When they finally stopped, sitting quietly snuggled against each other with Roark still snuggled against Robin, emerald and silver eyes unfocused, lost deep in their own thoughts and memories of the men they had both fallen so very deeply in love with.

Fingers combed through his dark hair, bringing him back to himself. "You know," Dylan said quietly with a smile when Roark's eyes had cleared, "he loves you, Rory." He looked over at Harry. "Just as Rabastan obviously loves you."

"Well, he says he does." Roark said softly.

"But…" came from Colten, "I hear doubt, Rory. What has made you doubt him?"

"It's not that I doubt him, Cole," he answered immediately. "It's just…" a pause, "I found out something. Something I, for a few brief centons {minutes}, had suspected, but had put aside as not possible."

"What did you find out, Rory?" Kili asked with a puzzled look. "It's not often something shocks you this badly."

Roark stood, set his empty mug on the coffee table, threaded his way back to his desk. There, he picked up the file and took it back to the couch. "Recognize these?" he asked, handing the file to his friend.

Logan took the file as both Fili and Kili moved to the chair Logan sat in and looked at the file over his shoulder. "Of course," he answered, flipping through all the slips of paper. "These are the notes our informants left for us."

Now Roark handed him the letter that Rodolphus had secreted within his weapons belt, while from his jacket pocket Harry drew out a slip of paper and handed that over as well. "Compare them."

"Rodolphus!" Fili gasped, his head jerking up to meet Roark's silver gaze.

"Fuck! Rabastan too!" Logan gasped, his own gaze meeting Harry's.

"Do you mean to tell us that Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange, Riddle's left hand, his top two Terminators, are our informants?!" Kili lifted shocked, dark brown eyes to look at Roark then to Harry.

"Burn them." Came the sharp command before Roark or Harry could answer them.

They all turned their heads as one. "Taylor?"

"Roark, Hadrian if you love them…if you value their lives as much as I believe you do, you'll destroy those. Now."

Roark immediately grabbed the file and letters from Logan, went to his fireplace where one of the Durin's had built up the fire, and threw them in. The flames flared up, eating at the papers, and he watched them burn, until there was nothing left but ash, then turned back to them.

"Do you have any more of those in your office?" he was asked.

Roark shook his head. "No. We brought everything they left us home. The first couple of sectons {weeks} we were here, our office wasn't secure, and was searched on a regular basis by our spies."

"And now?"

He shook his head again. "No, Aiden. When I said our office was secure, I meant it. And after encountering a few of Raphael's little surprises that Harry and I started to leave for them, they gave up." His gaze returned to Taylor as everyone laughed, knowing all about Raphael's sweet little surprises. "Did you know it was Rodolphus and Rabastan?"

"No Rory, I didn't. As with you, Uncle Roark, Uncle Thorin and the others would only say that there were two informants very close to Riddle. The less anyone knew the better off they were. I had no idea just how close they meant."

"Fuck, they've been here for yahrens {years} then. They had this in place for close to ten yahrens {year}.

Suddenly, Logan began to laugh heartily, drawing everyone's attention to him, looking surprised. "Just what is so funny, Logan?" Rohan asked.

"In his letter," he gasped, wiping at his eyes. "He said he'd be back tonight to teach Rory how to use those knives," he met Roark's gaze. "He has no idea about all those extra defense classes Rory has had with Raph."

Roark smirked. "Then I'd say he's in for a very big surprise, wouldn't you?" He looked at his brother a brow raised, feeling Harry's smug amusement. "Rabastan?"

Harry smirked, his emerald green eyes dancing. "This is going to be so much fun, Rory."

More laughter sounded around the room again. "Oh, to be a fly on the wall for this."

"Forget fly on the wall," Rohan chuckled, feeling truly amused for the first time since his husband's death. "I'd like to be the one to sell the tickets to the main event."

"Rohan!" Roark exclaimed, but then he too began to laugh. "Though admittedly it will be a good show as he'll have no idea what hit him."

cccVccc

As soon as they arrived at Headquarters, they went to the conference room, where Ardyn, Apollo and Morgan were already waited. Roark raised a brow at his brother and Gwydion's partner, but said nothing when both gave him barely perceptible shrugs after his quick eye shift toward Ardyn. Though his Uncle certainly looked greatly displeased about something.

"You look better this morning, Rory." Apollo said with a warm smile at his nephew, moving to hug him tightly. After releasing him he turned to Harry, drew him in for a hug as well. "Good, you look better rested as well."

"I am, Uncle. Slept the entire night. I woke up this morning feeling better than I had in a while, though I did snarl at Logan for waking me."

Apollo let out a hearty laugh, throwing his head back. Once he had himself back under control, his nephews were looking at him with raised brows. "If there was one thing you both hated more than anything, it was being woken before you were ready to wake. I don't know how many times, Father and I got snarled at when we had to wake you to go to classes at the Academy."

"All too true. I feel quite a bit better myself. I managed to sleep the whole night for the first time in several days, and no dreams," he moved to a chair, sat. "I have lists of things we need to work on today," he said. "Logan, Kili, I'd like for the two of you to work with Sebastien, Robin and Rohan on those drug samples we've gotten a hold of," he passed around sheets of paper to the others, "We need to figure out why they leave no traces in the blood stream after use."

Logan and Kili nodded. "We can do that."

Ardyn looked up from the papers he'd been passed. "What are you and Harry planning to do today, Rory?" he asked just over a centar {hour} later as they were finishing up.

"We've some things to do in our office," he answered without looking over at him. He could tell as he got to his feet, that Ardyn was irritated by that. "If anyone needs us, that's where we'll be," he said as he moved toward the western door.

"Roark."

He paused as the door slid open. "Uncle Apollo?"

Apollo rose, moved around the table to his side. "Are you alright? As glad as I am that you finally got some sleep, you still seem to be a bit…off, distracted."

"I'm fine. Really," he smiled at his look. "I just have a lot on my mind is all," he leaned up to brush a kiss to his jaw. "Thanks for worrying about me. I'll see you later." He turned and walked out, Harry following with a wave and a smile.

Apollo frowned as the door slid closed, then he turned. "Sebastien? Ethan?"

Both gave him a smile. "He really is alright, Apollo." Ethan said. "And Harry is going to stay with him. If Rory needs us for anything he knows to call us immediately."

"And as much as we know they hate to take those sleeping pills, we'll make sure they take what they need to get enough sleep."

cccVccc

Roark and Harry spent the whole day in their office, going through not only the files and reports, but the ones Logan, Kili, Fili, and the three Durin's had done as well. They had even decided to go through Kale's and Tristyn files. They were looking for any mention of their lovers, making a few calls; and taking a few, as they came in.

Any time they found something they were looking for, they would set them aside, each of them creating a new file. One they were, once they had found each and every mention of them, fully intended to destroy to keep anyone from discovering that the two Terminator's actually worked for Counter Intelligence. They were so intent on what they were doing, neither of them noted the passage of time, except for a brief interruption in the early afternoon.

"Come," was called out distractedly when the door buzzed, announcing a visitor.

"I've brought you two something to eat since you skipped lunch," came the voice neither of them liked.

"Thank you, Ardyn," he said, not even looking up.

"What are you and Harry looking for so intently, Roark?"

"Information," he answered, closing the current file, setting it aside and reaching for another.

A frown which he didn't see as he wouldn't look at him. "Information on what?"

"We'll know when I find it," Harry told him, finally looking up to see that Ardyn frowning as he stared at his brother. He raised a brow. "Is there a problem, Ardyn?"

"You've been through those files several times. What could you possibly be looking for that you haven't already found?"

A shrug. "Good question, and as he said, we'll know when I find it. Have you got your team together?"

"Nearly."

"Then perhaps you should get back to that, hum? We want to be ready to move as soon as we get the location of that landing sight," Roark told him, and while he didn't see the fury that flared up in his eyes, he sure felt it.

cccVccc

A chime sounded in the silence of their office, bringing two dark heads up to look at the corner of their computers. They smiled, Roark turning his head to look at his brother who was already getting to his feet. Time to head home and put their plans in motion. They shut down their computer's, put their desks in order, picked up the files they each had yet to go through, slid them into their leather satchels, and secured it. Roark got to his feet. Grabbing the scarlet jacket from the back of his chair, he pulled it on, making sure it hid the knives noting that Harry had done the same. Meeting Harry on the other side of their desks they headed for the door, a spring in both of their steps where they paused only long enough to grab their black leather jackets and pulling them on as the door slid open.

"Rory! Harry!" the call came as he was activating the security alarm to his office.

He turned, smiled. "Hey, Logan, Ki. Hey guys, Uncle Apollo. Ardyn," his tone cooled slightly.

"Are you done for the day?" Ethan asked, moving to lay a hand on the back of his neck. "Good. Your shields are back up," he murmured so that only he heard. "You're both headed home then?"

"We are," he answered with a smile as Sebastien moved to his side as well, studying his face. "Yes, Bastien?"

"I want you both to take two of those tablets I gave you last night about a centar {hour} before you go to bed."

"Sebastien-"

"Please, boys. You need your sleep. Especially now, so please, take them."

"Alright," he said with a nod, "but only because I agree with you. Good night, guys," he turned to go.

"See you all tomorrow morning," Harry said as he began to follow Rory out.

"Hey Rory, Harry, why don't you both join us for dinner and drinks at the Aquarian?" Ardyn asked before he got too far from him.

"Sorry, Ardyn, not tonight. I've already got plans."

"What plans would those be? To work all night?"

A smile. "No. As a matter of fact, I'm not planning to do much work at all. I'm having someone over for dinner."

"Who?" came the instant demand, a sharp note of jealousy in his tone that they all heard.

Roark frowned. "That's really none of your business, now is it, Ardyn?" he shot back coolly. His chronometer beeped, and he looked down at it. "Oops. Must go. I have some things I need to get into place before he arrives. Later, everyone," he turned and hurried away, beginning to whistle cheerfully as he walked, Harry following quickly with a chuckle.

Apollo shook his head, looking at all the Durin's present. "Alright, guys," he said to the grinning, obviously amused men, "just what is our Demon and Scamp up to now?"

"They're both planning surprises for their lovers, who aren't going to know what hit them." Fili answered, his blue eyes alight with laughter.

"Lover!" Ardyn gasped. "What lover?!" he demanded. "He told me he wasn't even considering taking a lover until this case was done."

"The lover he's had for the last couple of sectars {months}, and things change when you meet the right person." Kili answered, looking over at him.

"Oh, come on, Ardyn," Logan said at the look of shocked, angry surprise that had entered Ardyn's expression. "You honestly can't have been that blind? Despite the obvious exhaustion, you had to have noticed he's been much happier of late? Less tense."

"No. As a matter of fact," he growled at him. "I hadn't noticed, and he's not spoken a word about meeting or seeing anyone, let alone taking him as a lover. Nor has he shown it. Come to that, neither has Harry."

"Neither of them would have say anything about it because neither of them consider it any one's business but their own," Jordan said in a cool tone of voice.

"Yet all of you know about it," he snapped at them.

Shrugs all around. "There isn't much about Rory that we DON'T know, and by extension, Harry, as they are exceptionally close. There's an exceptionally tight bond between those two that only death will break," Desmond told him

"Nor are we as unobservant as you seem to be," Rohan said, a frown forming on his forehead as he looked at Ardyn. "Come on boys. First rounds on me."

"Apollo?" Ardyn asked, looking over at his friend.

Apollo shrugged, "I knew there was someone as soon as I saw both of them when we arrived, but we've yet to really speak about it. Those boys have always tended to keep things close until they were ready to discuss them and pushing either of them for any answers would only irritate them. It was always best to leave them be until they're ready to talk about it."

"And it doesn't bother you that the Durin's know more about your nephews than you do?"

Apollo shook his head, smiled. "No. Why should it? Several of them are very strong empaths, with more than a few others being mild ones. They've known more about Roark and Harry then I, or anyone else has since they were very small, and what one Durin knows, they ALL know. It's been like that ever since I've known them." He smiled again, threw an arm around his friend's shoulder. "Come on. I'll buy you a drink."

When I find out who this son of a bitch is, Ardyn thought viciously as they left the building, I'll kill him. Roark Potter belonged to him! And ONLY to him!

cccVccc

A black gloved hand closed over his mouth as the other arm wrapped around his waist. The person drew him back against him, pressing him tightly to him. His hand flashed down but was quickly captured in a hard grip as the hand over his mouth moved to remove the pistol from its holster and toss it away.

"Now what will you do?" growled the deep voice coldly into his ear.

He didn't answer, just reacted. His foot snapped back the exact same moment his head went back, striking him on the shin and shoulder instead of knee and mouth as were the usual striking places of such a move. The hold on him loosened infinitesimally, allowing him to twist free, his hand coming up with one of the three knives.

Sherry brown eyes sparkled at the challenge his lover now presented him. "Oh, that was good, my love. What else have you got up that sleeve of yours that I didn't know about?" he asked, approval clear in his voice.

Roark gave him a smile. "Would you care to find out, my darling?" came his dare.

Rodolphus had to laugh, drawing one of his own blades. "Let's see what you've got, darling."

cccVccc

They were both sweaty, breathing hard, and despite how careful they had been with their hits, both knew they'd have a few bruises and a few more contusions to show for this. They'd been fairly even in the fight, until Roark had miscalculated on a defensive move, and found himself on his back, the sharp blade of Rodolphus' knife at his throat.

"Surrender," he growled, his sherry eyes dark with lust, and so much more.

Roark stared up at him, then, suddenly, he moved. Trying something he'd only tried a couple of times before. It had worked once, but only because Raphael hadn't been expecting the move. Rodolphus however, obviously did because Roark found himself completely immobilized microns {seconds} later.

"Would you care to try that again?" he asked, raising a brow, dark eyes now amused as well as lustful.

Roark shook his head. "Surrender," he said, then grinned. "How'd you know I was going to do that?"

"Your eyes." He got to his feet, extending his hands to him. "You've been very good at keeping your expressions hidden since we began this," he pulled him up into his arms, "but for a brief micron {second}, you let your guard drop. You let me see what you were intending to do."

Roark nodded. "One of the things I'll need to work on then," he said, sliding his hands up his chest and around his neck, pulling himself up for a kiss, which Rodolphus was all too happy to give him. "What would you like first? Food, or a shower?"

"As good as dinner smells right now, I think a shower would be the better idea, don't you?" he answered, releasing him to look around for the first time since arriving. "We're awful hot and very sticky with sweat," then he paused as he looked around the room. "You had this planned," he said with a touch of surprise, looking back at him.

"I have several things planned for us tonight. This was only the beginning," he said, taking his hand and leading him down the hall to the bathroom.

cccVccc

Warm water washed over them as he threw his head back, eyes closed, deep moans of pleasure issuing from his throat, where Rodolphus' lips were currently mouthing. His back was pressed tightly to the tile of the shower wall, arms raised over his head, hands trying to find purchase on the slick surface.

Rodolphus' hands were on his upper thighs, holding him up, his legs wrapped tightly around Rodolphus' waist as he was slammed into. Fast, hard, deep strokes that always hit that one place deep inside him, making him gasp and cry out in intense pleasure with each inward thrust.

"Rodolphus!" he cried out then, hands slapping down onto wet shoulders, clutching at them, his legs tightening as his body began to grow taut with his impending climax. "Oh, great Gods, Dolph! PLEASE!" he cried out, his head thrashing from side to side.

"So very passionate," he growled huskily, his eyes dark with his own passion as he looked down at the flushed face. "So very responsive, and so Gods damned beautiful. So very tight around me, your hot walls massaging my cock. It makes fucking you such a wonderfully pleasurable experience that I've never, ever felt before with anyone else."

"Rodolphus," he breathed, then, "Gods, PLEASE!" he cried sharply, his arms wrapped around Rodolphus' neck. "Good! Oh, sweet Gods, it's so…so good the way you move inside me! So hard, so big and hot. So…Oh great Gods, you're so DEEP!" he gasped out breathlessly, his heart beating so hard it felt like it was going to burst. "Gods, I love how you're so deep in me, slamming into me. Fucking me so good." He moaned again, deeper. "Oh! Oh…Kobol, Dolph! You feel so good! Harder! Faster! Deeper! FUCK me, Dolph!"

"Let go now, baby," he rasped breathlessly, moving in closer, bringing their bodies flush to one another, his thrusts coming even harder into him as was demanded. Harder, faster, his strokes into him becoming shorter, sharper, seemingly deeper as he ground himself into the hot cavern he was thrusting into. The sounds of their slapping bodies, their harsh breathing loud in the shower stall. "Just let yourself fall, baby," he pressed his lips to Roark's neck. "That's it, let go. Trust me to catch you. Let…go…" he found the pulsing vein, nipped at it hard, then closed his mouth over it and sucking harder.

"RO…DOLPH…US!" he screamed, hands clenching, his body jerking, his head hitting the wall as one last sharp, hard, so deeply powerful thrust into him sent him over the precipice he had been on for what had seemed like forever.

Then his body exploded. He felt not only his release between their pressed bodies, but Rodolphus deep inside him, flooding him with thick hot wetness.

cccVccc

"So," Rodolphus began as a plate was set before him on the table, "who trained you to fight like that?"

Roark smiled at him as he sat beside him at the table. "It was a Durin."

A chuckle as he picked up his fork. "Now why doesn't that surprise me," he took a bite of the lasagna. "Umm…and did he teach you how to cook as well?"

Laughter. "THAT would have been my grandmother," he picked up his wine, sipped. "It was Raphael. Second yarhen {year} I was in the Academy. He was under orders from his father and uncle, as well as my grandfather."

"Admiral Roark, Commander Thorin and Commander Adama? Why would they order him to give you extra training?" he asked, reaching for his own glass of wine, his eyes on his lover's face.

"There were a lot of people who wanted me to fail…who were waiting for it in fact, so second yahren {year} became about all types of fight training, not just viper."

Rodolphus frowned. "Were you ever physically attacked?"

"Oh no," he answered, shaking his head. "They'd never have dared to touch me physically. It was ever only mental and emotional, but it was decided by Admiral Roark, Commander Thorin, who oversaw the Academy at that time, my grandfather, along with several of my instructors, that I needed more…specialized training."

A snort followed his words. "As if you didn't already have enough on your plate as it was. I mean, really, completing a four yahren {year} military training in two is no easy feat."

He smiled, shrugged. "Well, no, it wasn't, but once I got myself into an organized system for the classes and studying, it wasn't too awful bad. Harry was sixteen when he joined the Academy, and was eighteen when I decided to join, so he was there the first yahren I was, and graduated in my second. I didn't have a whole lot of free time, but that was my choice. As I told a certain Captain after our first team meeting. My decisions, my consequences. But now that I think more about it, looking back on those two yahrens {year}, I find myself wondering if they perhaps weren't grooming me to be in Counter Intelligence. If they weren't grooming Harry as well."

"I think that would be entirely possible if they saw something in the two of you. The Durin's have always been remarkably good at choosing who they take, or even PLAN to take into Counter Intelligence." A dark brow went up. "Sixteen was still entirely too young to join, but FOURTEEN? That was insane. Though by all accounts you and Harry did very well."

Roark raised a brow at his words, and they continued to talk about anything and everything as they continued to eat, and once they'd finished, took care of their dishes, before going into the living area. Rodolphus moved to build up the fire as the temperature outside had fallen below freezing, and it had started to snow again. Roark refilled their wine glasses, grabbed the files he still needed to go through, and moved to take a seat on the pillows spread out before the raised hearth.

"Why, darling, are you compiling a file on me and Rabastan?"

Roark, who'd opened one of the files he had yet to go through, looked over at him to see him leaning, a soft pillow behind his back, against the hearth, the file that had all the information he'd found so far in his lap. "To destroy it of course," he answered, frowning when his glance back at the file before him saw something. He drew it from the file, passing it to his lover.

"Destroy it? Why would you-" he broke off as Roark looked over at him. Sherry brown eyes met silver, held. "You're erasing me," he breathed, "erasing US. Any mention of me and Rabastan at all from the files."

"We thought it would be a very good idea, just in case these files, however unlikely it may be, were to fall into the wrong hands."

"We? But why would you all think-" again he broke off, because Roark had turned his head again, this time a dark brow raising as if saying, 'you would dare to ask that?' "You know," he breathed in disbelief.

"That you and Rabastan are our informants?"

A nod. "How could you possibly have found out? We've been so careful."

A smile. "That you have been. I had, for a moment, entertained the thought that you both could be our informants, but there were just too many inconsistencies so I threw it out. Just as you both planned, I'm sure. It was your letter, Dolph. The one you left for me this morning, just like it was the one Rabastan left Harry. Idiot. You should have known we'd recognize the changes to our weapons belt without leaving us letters. It only took us a few microns {seconds} to recognize the writing between the letter, and the notes left for us containing the information." He saw the disbelief in his lover's eyes. "It wasn't intentional then."

"No, babe. No, it wasn't. Our orders were simple. Get as close to Tom Riddle as we could, and once there, we were to watch, do what small things we could without getting ourselves caught and killed to hinder him, and to wait. We were told we would know when it was time to begin sharing what we had discovered."

Roark started in surprise at that. "Rodolphus, just how long have you two been undercover here?"

"All totaled, just over ten yahrens {year}."

"Ten-" he began, then gasped. "You were Counter Intelligence before you came here!"

"Yes Rory, we are. We went through the Academy just like you did. I was twenty one when they recruited me, twenty three when they sent me here, Basti was nineteen, and hadn't even graduated yet."

"But then how did—Bright Kobol!" he gasped as the realization of what exactly his lover was saying hit him. "They sent you both in here when Riddle was beginning to make waves. You were undercover during that Platinum mine robbery."

He nodded. "That was one of Riddle's schemes to get as much platinum as he could get his hands on and then sell it to the highest bidder. We were already close to him by then and were two of his top Terminators. Really, it all began with the man who'd become our guardian after our parents died."

"Your guardian? The whip marks?"

Rodolphus nodded. "Our parents were killed when I was eight and Rabastan was four, in a Cylon attack here on Aquaria. We had no other family that we knew of at the time, so we pretty much became fair game to anyone who wanted to claim us. The man who decided to take us in, to try to train us as Terminators, was one of Riddle's top Terminator's at that time. His name was Zion, and no, he never introduced us to Riddle," he turned his eyes to the fire, watching the flames dance. "Good thing he didn't introduce us to Riddle or this never would have worked. I was, it seemed, at a prime age to be trained as a Terminator, and though Basti was yet too young for it he decided to train him anyway. I was thirteen when I made my first kill."

Roark didn't say anything, but then, he didn't need too. He simply reached out, covered one of Rodolphus' hands, twining their fingers together. Rodolphus looked over at him and by his blank expression, Roark knew he was lost in his memories.

"Come here to me," he murmured, pulling him toward him, then laying back against the pillows, wrapping him in his embrace, Rodolphus back to his chest. "Tell me what happened, love."

"I was eighteen, Rabastan fourteen. Zion had been given orders to come to Caprica. His marks were none other than a certain Admiral and Commander, as well as the Admiral's two eldest sons, who had decided to start an off shoot of the Colonial Armed Services. It was to be called The Colonial Counter Intelligence Unit."

"Admiral Roark, Commander Thorin. Dacian who, if I remember right, had just been promoted to Major and Gabriel, who'd just been made a Captain."

"Yes. Major Dacian and Captain Gabriel Durin. Only when the time came for me to do my job…when I had Dacian in my line of fire, and Rabastan had Gabriel in his I…WE couldn't do it. There was something about them, something we couldn't point our fingers too. We just knew we couldn't kill them. We did fire on them, aiming slightly left of him, grazing his shoulder. Rabastan did the same."

"And by doing so, let them know someone was targeting them."

"Yes. Zion was furious when he found out we'd only wounded our targets and took a laser whip to my back. Then, feeling like I'd not been punished enough with that, and that Rabastan needed to be punished too, he decided to turn the whip on Rabastan. Biggest mistake he ever made."

Roark's arms tightened around him and he pressed a kiss to the back if his neck, knowing exactly what he meant by that as he and Harry were the same way with each other. Rodolphus turned in his arms then, met his worried gaze. "I don't remember what happened after the point I turned on him. I woke up in Life Center several days later to see my brother smiling at me with Major Dacian, his twin brother Captain Gabriel and a Doctor in my room. Dacian said he and Gabriel had tracked us back to the safe house we were staying in. They'd burst in when they heard screaming to see me take a knife to Zion's throat."

"Good," Roark snarled. "I hope you split him open."

He grinned. "My ferocious love," he kissed him lightly, then sighed when Roark settled his head back against his chest under his chin, hugging him tight. "I did. From ear to ear from what they told me. I had also, apparently, stabbed him numerous time. They said I was completely berserk, defensive, protecting Rabastan exclusively, letting no one near him. They said it took them and Rabastan a couple of centars {hours} to talk me down, and once I'd finally calmed, came back to myself, I collapsed, hearing Rabastan scream my name."

"Blood loss, shock and exhaustion, I'll bet."

"You would bet right. My doctor, as it turned out, was a young Counter Intelligence Officer, so my name, Rabastan's name, and any further information about us was never released. The blame for the attempted hits was laid entirely at the door of Zion. Once I'd recovered enough, they took me to see their father and uncle. They made us an offer to put us through the Colonial Academy if we so wished it, then, when I graduated, they had a further job offer if I would care to listen."

"You must have decided to hear what they had to say."

He smiled. "I did. Basti and I may have been raised and trained to be Terminators , but buried deep, I wanted something different for myself, and for Rabastan and that's what Roark and Thorin were offering me. Offering US. A choice for something different."

Roark reached up at the same moment that Rodolphus lifted his head from his chest. Gentle fingers smoothed some hair back that had fallen into his eyes, then down the side of his face. "I'm glad you decided to take their offer. I can assume you are both ranked then?"

He nodded. "A Major and Rabastan is a Captain though only the Admiral, Thorin, Dacian, Gabriel, and that doctor know that."

"That doctor wouldn't happen to be named Schyler, would he?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Doctor-Captain Schyler Durin. He's a cousin and was a Sergeant at the time you're talking about, which would mean Raphael probably knew about you as well, as they're partners. All my current team except for my Uncle Apollo and, of course Ardyn, know you and Rabastan are our informants, but they may find out once they see me. As I'm sure you've realized, I have very little to no control over my empathic ability."

A frown. "I have noticed, and I'd like to know why. I don't know any of them personally, but I do know there are several very strong empaths among the Durins, and there are five, perhaps six of them here right now."

"I was sent to Saggitara when I was ten."

"As were Rabastan and I once our gifts became too strong for us to control without some type of training. If you were there, then you sure as hell should have better control than you do."

"I'm sure I probably would, except that something happened within a few sectons {weeks} of my arriving there. To this day, I have absolutely no memory of it. Ethan said I'd had some kind of dream, had apparently been having it for several days and that whatever was in that dream was so horrific, I sent myself into a self-willed catatonic coma that no one could wake me from."

"A dream?" Rodolphus sat up, a frown twisting his brow. "But… a dream isn't empathy."

"No, it isn't, but then, I seem to have more than one gift."

"Premonition," he breathed. "You had a premonition dream."

A nod. "So they seem to believe, though they never said anything about premonition dreams," he said, looking up at him. "It was decided, to protect me until I was old enough to face, and too understand what was happening, that it was best to block whatever gifts that I did have." He grinned. "The blocks on my empathy were already weakening when I came here, and they came down completely the night I met you. Ethan thinks that's when the other blocks began to weaken as well."

"Well, he would know, wouldn't he? Once one block fails, the others will soon follow, which would then explain about your dreams of one of us dying."

Roark shuddered, sat up suddenly and snuggled close to him. "I don't want to lose you Rodolphus. Not when you've come to mean so much to me."

"You won't, babe. Premonitions aren't set in stone, and with enough warning can often be avoided, if not averted all together," he glanced up at the clock on the mantle of the fireplace. "It's late, babe," he released Roark, stood, then pulled him up into his arms, kissed him. "Let's go to bed, I want to make love to you. Slow, sweet, intense, passionate love."

"Oh yes," Roark breathed, "please do."

cccVccc

His hands and lips were everywhere, taking him up, holding him on that precipice, letting him come down, only to take him up once again. Both were flushed, sweat covering them when Rodolphus finally slid deep inside of him. Roark's eyes widened, he gasped and arched up as he began to move, his thrusts into him slow, steady, yet deep and powerful.

"Dolph…" he moaned. "Gods Rodolphus, so good. You feel…" he gasped again as he began to answer those so strong movements in and out of him, "so good inside me. You're so hot, so hard. Big, stretching me open to take you."

He captured the reaching hands, twined their fingers, pressing their hands to the bed beside his head. "You're still so tight, baby," he breathed. "As many time's as I've been inside you, you'd think you'd loosen up a bit, but no, you're still as tight as the night I took your virginity. Tight, and so very hot around me," he leaned down to kiss him. "You're so beautiful like this. Spread out beneath me, taking me so deep inside you. Whether I make love to you, or fuck you hard, fast and deep, you respond so wonderfully."

"Rodolphus!" he cried, arching up into the thrusts that were beginning to come faster, harder, ever deeper, striking that pleasure spot within him each time.

"Mine, Roark Potter," he groaned, his eyes darker in his passion. "You belong to me, and only to me."

"Yes, yes. Yours. Now and always yours," then his body splintered, came apart with a climax so powerful that it had him screaming his lovers name with every powerful, pounding thrust into him.

"Yes!" Rodolphus gasped then. "Come for me," his own body tightened. "Oh, Gods. Yes, tighten on me. Message me," he moaned, then "ROARK!" His cry filled the bedroom as his own climax slammed into him flooding Roark with his hot seed.

cccVccc

They were furious. So completely, incredibly outraged when one of the pleasure houses they raided several nights later, contained nothing but children. Boys and girls, some who were no younger than seven, yet no older than fifteen. He stood on the steps as the last of the boys was brought out, feeling his fury race through him, feeling Harry's fury rolling off him like wave beside him..

"Burn it!" he snarled, as the last of the arrested workers and patrons were ushered past him as well. "Burn it to the ground!"

"With pleasure, Lieutenant," one of the older warriors who stood near him snarled, his own anger burning in his eyes. "This is an outrage that cannot, MUST not be tolerated."

"Nor will it be," Harry snarled.

They moved off the steps of the house, the rest of the team moving to stand around them to support them, watching grimly as the house was set ablaze. "This will enrage him, Roark," came the soft warning from behind him, his hands settling on his shoulders.

"I don't fucking care!" he snarled out furiously, pulling away sharply from him so that he could turn and face him. "Let him be enraged! I'M enraged! We're ALL enraged by what we've found here tonight!" He glared up into his calm face, frowning at him when he realized that Ardyn didn't seem to be bothered by what he saw. "They're children, Ardyn! There's not one of them over fifteen, eight are thirteen, six are ten and three are seven. SEVEN, Ardyn!"

"I know," he said quietly, unaware that every single Durin was glaring at him murderously. Even Apollo was unhappy about what he was seeing, and hearing from his longtime friend. "But burning down the house isn't the answer."

"Maybe not for you it isn't, but it certainly is for us," he growled, as a calming sense of satisfaction moved through him just then. He very nearly smiled, as he knew where those particular feelings was coming from. Rodolphus and Rabastan. His lover, Harry's lover were both intensely satisfied with this night's work. He turned away. "Let's go. I want to get that drug den shut down, then move on that gambling house near Market Square."

He stalked off, the rest of Counter Intelligence following, his own men following them, giving him looks of disbelief.

cccVccc

He took the empty seat across from him, his back to the wall. "You sent for me?" he asked coolly.

"I did," he snarled in reply. "Tell me, Rodolphus, why aren't Lieutenant Roark and Lieutenant Hadrian dead?"

A dark brow rose. "Because we're not done playing with them yet."

"You've never been one to play with your kills before, Rodolphus. Why now?"

"Because he's different. He's cool, collected. He's not afraid of me, nor is he afraid of you, for that matter. I simply find it fascinating. Don't worry so much, Tom."

"Don't wor—Damn it Rodolphus! Every day those little bastards lives, is another day I'm losing more money! I'm sick to death of losing money! Last night they actually had the nerve to burn down one of my pleasure houses!"

'Yes, and a beautiful sight it was too, you sick, sorry son of a bitch!' he snarled within his mind.

Lips quirked. "Did he? Well, he certainly is passionate about some things. I did hear about which house he raided, then burned, and if you want the truth, I'm really quite surprised burning it down was all he did," he stood. "We'll be taking care of them soon." He turned to go.

"Something else."

Rodolphus turned back. "Yes, Tom?"

"There was a new team sent to him. All of them except one were Counter Intelligence."

"I am aware of that. If Zion hadn't screwed up and gotten himself killed by his own marks instead of killing them, we might not be having these problems right now.

A nod. "That's very true. I suppose you know who they are then?"

Rodolphus gave him a very condescending smile. "Of course. The Counter Intelligence Unit is inundated with the Durin family."

A snort. "That family is so large it can be considered an army all on its own. I want you and Rabastan to take care of as many of them as you can. I'll give you a very nice bonus."

"It will be our pleasure."

cccVccc

Roark was talking with his brother, his Uncle, Payton, and Ethan as they moved past one of the many cantinas when he stepped out of the door directly into their path. Roark stopped, his silver eyes widening in surprise, his hands wrapping around both Apollo's and Payton's wrists, feeling Ethan and Harry at his back.

"Oh, my Gods," he released Apollo's wrist, his hand going to his heart as he stepped back into Harry. "I don't believe it. He's actually out in the daylight, and in something other than black," his eyes moved over the dark blue sapphire shirt, tucked into grey slacks instead of his usual leathers, though he still wore the black leather vest.

"It's a shock to your system, I'm sure," he smirked coolly. "Good afternoon, Lieutenant Roark, Lieutenant Hadrian," his dark eyes rested but a moment on his face, a sudden, intense, inexplicable feeling, an awareness totally different from his usual one to have him in his arms, pressed against him, under him as he fucked him into the mattress.

"Rodolphus," he returned, a frown curving his brow as he too became intensely aware of the same feeling of awareness that was non-related to the love between them. "Good afternoon. Dare I ask where your brother is?"

"He's busy, this, I take it would be your Uncle Apollo, and two new team members," his head tilted slightly. "So, you would be Captain Payton Durin, and you his elder brother, Doctor-Captain Ethan Durin."

"Well, I'll say this for him, Rory, he does his homework." Ethan commented dryly.

"So, it would seem, brother, but now the question becomes where he managed to get his information. It's a curiosity, is it not?"

"That, Captain, would be for me to know, and for you to find out," he returned his attention to Roark. "You should know I've just left a meeting with my boss. It's truly amazing to me just how furious you've managed to make him. Raiding and closing down his businesses, arresting and imprisoning his people, stopping his shipments, and confiscating the goods," a flicker of amusement that they all saw. "Why, you even had the nerve to burn down one of his pleasure houses. You've certainly accomplished quite a lot in such a short time. More than anyone else ever has. I'd say well done, IF I didn't work for him."

He stepped closer then, and as if on instinct both Apollo and Payton moved to intercept him. He laughed a deep, rich laugh. "Oh, how sweet. They want to protect you from me," his brow went up. "Haven't they realized NOTHING will protect you from me? You, Lieutenant, BOTH of you, are living on borrowed time," his voice lowered to a dangerous level, which made Roark give a shiver as heat began to move through him. He always found it exciting when Rodolphus' voice became deep and dangerous. "He's gotten very anxious to see you dead…to see ALL of you dead."

There, he thought, the warning had been given and by the flicker in the Durin brother's eyes, his message had been received. They each gave barely perceptible nods, acknowledging the warning. As for Roark, well, he stepped into him, bringing their bodies into close contact, raising his eyes to meet Rodolphus' dark sherry gaze, saw the spark of lust that suddenly appeared, and had to grin.

"They know I'm well able to take care of myself. There's no accounting for the protectiveness of family and friends," a shrug. "As for you, I await the day," a smirk of his own, "or night, you decide to come for me, Rodolphus, just as I know Harry is awaiting Rabastan to come for him. We'll both be sure to put up a very…satisfying, fight."

"Oh, I'm quite sure you will," a soft chuckle, "and when it's over, one of us will be dead. Preferably, not me and Basti."

"I'm sure. Well, as pleasant as this talk has been, you must excuse us. Work to do. I'm sure you understand," a dip of his head. "A good day to you, Terminator."

"And to you, Lieutenant," he returned, watching as they turned and walked away. Once they were out of his sight, he turned and headed back to his apartment.

He hadn't been able to get away until very late the night before, therefor Roark had already been in bed and asleep when he'd slid into bed beside him, drawing him into his arms. He's mumbled something, snuggling closer to his warmth, his face pressed into his neck. Unfortunately, he'd had to leave earlier than usual as Bella had called screaming through the comm line that when she found him and his lover, she was going to carve his heart out of his chest. He smirked to himself, he and Rabastan having arrived in time to see up close just what their lovers had done with that pleasure house. At least now those poor children would be taken care of, hopefully being returned to their families once they had been cleared by medical. He'd also heard about several pitched battles between Riddle's people and the team of Counter Intelligence Officers, as well as the warriors from Captain Ardyn's detachment that had happened last night.

Seeing Roark just now had sent his heart to racing, his nerves to dancing, and his blood to boiling. His mind had begun to imagine some of the things he yet wanted to do to him, with him, but now there seemed to be a secondary bond…this unexpected linking awareness, beyond the desire and passion between them. This new awareness worried him, as he had no idea what it was, or what it meant for them. He just didn't understand why it had formed now, or why they had felt it so strongly, for there was no doubt, given the look he'd seen in Roark's eyes that he'd felt it as well.

Entering his apartment, he moved to the mantel over his fireplace to pick up the one holographic photo he had of his mother. She was, he thought, staring at the smiling face, a beautiful woman. She had long, black hair that fell to just below her buttocks, dark brown eyes, and a porcelain smooth, angular face.

"Mother," he murmured, smoothing a finger over the photo, "where did you hide that damn box?"

cccVccc

"So, that was Rodolphus." Apollo said as they turned onto Market Square.

Roark looked over at him. "Yes. That was Rodolphus."

"You look a bit like him in the shape of your facial features and skin tone, though your skin has a bit more of a porcelain color to it."

"Do you think so?" he asked, turning his head away from his Uncle. "It's been noted before that we look a bit alike."

"He's been threatening you. And his brother is after you," he looked over at Harry on his other side.

"Well of course he has, Uncle Apollo. That's their job. They've been contracted to kill us. I've spoken with him several times as he's made it a habit of following me around." We won't mention all the nights he's been in my bed, fucking the daylights out of me, he thought with a smirk. There was no sense in giving his uncle a coronary. Apollo was nowhere near as calm about certain things as the Durins where. "I'm always aware of when he's around, watching me, studying me, following me on so many occasions that I've lost count. Today makes three times he's actually issued a threat toward me."

"Rabastan's been the same," Harry said, looking between the two. "I was kind of surprised to hear he was busy, as you will usually find them together."

"Just like the two of you," Dylan said with a smile.

"Hum…makes you wonder what kind of life they've led to turn to being a Terminator."

"Their mother was killed when Rodolphus was eight, Rabastan four, and as an orphan with no family to protect them from the darker aspects of life on the streets, they was fair game to anyone who wanted to claim them. They were taken off the streets by one of Riddle's top Terminators at that time to be trained as Terminators themselves. Beyond that, other than that the marriage between him and Bellatrix was an arranged one by Riddle and that they hate each other with the passion that they SHOULD love each other, we know very little else, and you know how I am about research on things that interest me. Rodolphus interests me."

"Obsessive," came a comment from his right.

"Now be nice, Payton, or I'll put you to work on one of those so many research projects I have going."

"NO…" he moaned playfully, "please Rory, spare me that. You KNOW how much I HATE research."

Hearty laughter sounded from Roark and Ethan. "Isn't that the truth?" Ethan said, throwing an arm around his younger brother's shoulders.

"I put Tristyn, Logan and Kili on him, but none of them could find much…no, I take that back. Tristyn found something, but the disk with the information on it, like the one he'd made on Ardyn, have both disappeared. Kili said they were both born here but that there's nothing on his father, and not much more on the mother. I did, however, come across something very interesting this morning in the archives," which I will need to discuss with him tonight. "I found—OH!" he gasped suddenly.

They watched him steady himself, then kneel to comfort the small boy who'd just barreled into his legs. Watching as Roark dried the boy's tears, Apollo had to smile as a thought came to him. When the time came, and when Roark was ready to settle down, he'd make a great father when he decided to have children, knowing that both his beloved nephews were one of only a few hundred men born with the Carrier gene. He very suddenly found himself dreaming of the day his nephews would come to the family, husbands at their side, smiling as they told them they were pregnant.

"There you are, naughty boy!" came the voice of the child's worried mother. "Thank you, Lieutenant Roark. One micron {second} he was beside me, the next he was gone."

"It was no trouble at all, Siress Malcolm," he said, getting to his feet and smiling at her. "He was telling me all about the tan and black dagget puppy he saw in the pet store window."

She shook her head and gave him a warm smile. "Of course, he was," she said looking down at her son, then back up at Roark. "Kody has been wanting a puppy for nearly a yahren {year}. Perhaps it's time I spoke to my husband about getting him one."

The boy, Kody, no older than five or six, looked up at his mother, a hopeful look in his now happily excited aquamarine blue eyes. "Really, Mama? You'll talk to Daddy?"

"Yes, my precious," she answered, bending to look him in the eye, "I'll talk to your daddy, but you must make me a promise not to leave my side again. Next time, it may not be a Warrior you run into. Mama wouldn't want anything to happen to her precious baby."

He nodded quickly. "I promise, Mama!" he cried happily throwing himself into her arms. "I promise not to run away from you again."

Roark chuckled, ruffling the boy's blonde hair. "You behave yourself now, Kody, and the next time I see you, you can tell me all about your puppy, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Mr. Roark."

"Bye, Kody."

Siress Malcolm as her son took her extended hand, said with a smile. "Thank you again, Lieutenant Roark. Lt. Hadrian. Gentlemen."

"Good afternoon, Siress Malcolm," they said together, giving her smiles.

"Come along now, Kody. Mama still has some shopping to finish," she said, beginning to move away. Kody looked back at them, waving a small hand, and with a smile, Roark waved back.

Once the boy and his mother were out of sight, Roark turned, noticed the look on his Uncle's face, and raised a brow in question. "Yes?"

Apollo shook his head. "Nothing really. It's just…I think when the time's right, and you and your mystery man decide to settle down together and get married, you'll make a great father when you decide to have children."

"We've a long way to go before that's likely to happen," he said, his face flushing as suddenly a picture of Rodolphus sitting at his side, he himself big with their child filled his mind. "There's an assignment to finish, a few secrets to expose, and a probable Peace Conference to get through-"

"One of those secrets being who your mystery lover of yours is. BOTH of you," he said looking over at Harry.

"That secret will come to light once this case is over, and not before."

"Good. Because I want to know who he is. So…what did you find out this morning that you found to be so odd?"

They started to walk again as Roark answered. "I found an old report in the Port Authority archives, it has a young woman by the name of Leta Lestrange arriving on Aquaria with an infant boy no more than a few sectons {weeks} old."

Harry frowned. "Didn't they say they had no other relatives?"

"That they knew of."

"An aunt, or perhaps a cousin?"

"Possible, Ethan. There was no further mention of the child, or what had happened to him. There was an attack here a few seton {weeks} later, and many of the reports from that time were destroyed so we may never know. He's never mentioned ever knowing about an Aunt or a cousin"

"Why would Rodolphus ever mention having an aunt or a cousin to you?" Apollo asked. "As I'm sure you don't discuss your personal life with him when you run into him, why would he discuss his with you?"

"Just because he's been hired to kill me, doesn't mean we don't ask questions of each other. He seems to find it a funny game to catch me off guard enough to answer him when he asks a personal question. I've just never managed to catch him off guard enough to answer mine when I ask."

A snort. "No more have I when Rabastan and I start to play twenty questions."

"Neither of you really aren't afraid of them, are you?"

"No, Uncle Apollo, but we are very wary of them," Roark answered as Harry gave a shrug.

"Rory, this report…did it happen to mention which Colony she came in from? And did it happen to mention if she was married?"

"What?" he turned to Payton. "OH! Yes, it did. Said she came in on the refugee shuttle from Leo. She answered that she was a widow when asked, her husband had been killed in the attacks on Leo. Why do you ask?"

"Hum…I wonder…"

"Wonder what, Uncle Apollo?" Harry asked him curiously.

"Well, it was eighteen yahrens {years} ago, and I seem to remember Father talking about a Cylon attacks on Leo about that time. By all accounts, it was a really bad one."

"It was." Payton said quietly. "I remember Uncle Thorin coming home, his face very pale. He sat us all down, told us he had some bad news. That we'd need to be there for each other. He told us the Capitol City of Leo was nearly destroyed, and that the Solarian, who was nearby, answered their distress call."

"Oh, my Gods!" Roark gasped. "That was when your father was injured so badly, wasn't it?"

They nodded. "It was. From what Uncle Thorin said, there was a Baseship just outside Leo's gravitational orbit. Father was the Commander of the Solarian but was off duty and on planet the day of the attacks. His second in command sent word to Headquarters, then turned her toward that Baseship. They went head to head with it. Put up one hell of a fight by all accounts, but when the Galactica, and the Acropolis, who were sent to assist arrived, there was nothing left but debris. The Solarian had destroyed the Baseship, but she was badly damaged. They think maybe fire got to the solarium tanks before they could put it out. She blew a few centons before they arrived."

"They built the Solaria as a remembrance to the Solarian shortly after that." Ethan said, and suddenly he looked thoughtful. "Maybe you should look into that."

A smile. "Actually, I already am."

"You know, now that I think about it," Ethan said, "you would have been a few days old when that attack happened."

"Yes, a tiny little thing according to you, Uncle Apollo. Grandfather had asked father and mother for permission to name me after his best friend."

Apollo laughed. "And you were. You were the most adorable baby when James and Lily brought you home to us. I remember making a promise to myself the moment James placed you into my arms."

"What promise was that?"

"That I would love you, protect you. No-one was ever going to hurt my little nephew. Harry demanded to hold you nearly as much as we wanted too."

Roark rolled his eyes at that. "Yes, and you've done a most excellent job of that. Just think about this, though. What if I'd been adopted? What if I wasn't born on Caprica, but on Leo? I could have been the long missing baby brother of the Durins."

Ethan and Payton, who knew very well that Roark WAS adopted, looked over at Apollo, saw that his face had paled, as had Harry's when they looked over at him. As they began to walk again, they found themselves wondering. Could it be possible? Could Roark have been born on Leo, though they knew the woman who'd put him up for adoption had come from…they looked at each other. : She came from Leo, Ethan. :

: Yes, she did. I'm not sure whether it could be possible or not, but as soon as this case is over, I'm calling a family meeting- :

Payton shook his head. : No. We get everyone together tonight. We call Dad and Uncle Thorin, and we set up a conference call with the entire family. IF this is possible, then we need to start looking into it now. If we wait too long, we could lose valuable time finding any proof. :

: Agreed. :

"So, Rory, Harry" they heard Apollo begin, drawing then back to their two friends, "is it serious?"

"Is what serious?" he asked, stopping at a fruit and vegetable booth. Liking what he saw, he bought a verity of both

"What is between the two of you and your mystery lovers?"

Roark looked over at him, his head tilting slightly. "Hum…we've only been together for a few sectars {months}, but yes, I'd say it's definitely serious. I'm in love with him."

"And is he in love with you?"

A smile. "Yes, Uncle Apollo, he is."

"Harry?" he saw his elder nephew nod, a smile curving his lips "Then I should tell you that once this is over, and you finally tell us who he is, I'm going to have a nice long talk with him."

A couple of snorts from behind them, making them both turn to look at the two Durin brothers. "What? Your brothers and cousins have already made it very clear you will all want to have a talk with them as well."

"Of course, they did. We were just remembering."

"Remembering what?

They both grinned at him. "Why, we were remembering our little talk with Nick when we found out about him and Damien."

"Sweet Gods, that man was positively sickening in his adoration."

Roark had to laugh, pointing a finger. "Don't you worry you two, your time will come, sooner, rather than later."

"Oh, we're sure it will, but preferably later than sooner."

He chuckled at them. "It'll happen when you expect it least. Just as it did me."

"And me."

cccVccc

"There's something I need to talk to you about," he said softly as they lay together beneath a light blanket in front of the fireplace. His body was still tingling from their bout of intense lovemaking, his heart having finally settled to its regular beat.

His head turned, lips brushing over his forehead, his hand moving lazily up and down his back under their blanket. "Hum…ask me what?"

"About something I found this morning in the Port Authority's Office Archives."

"I thought the Archives had been destroyed," he said.

"Most of it was, but I took a chance that I might find something, and I did." He pressed a kiss to Rodolphus' chest, then sat up, reaching for his robe laying abandoned on the floor not too far away.

"Hum…where are you going, babe?" he asked tiredly, sitting up himself and pushing a couple of pillows behind his back and the hearth, watching his lover.

"To my desk," he answered, moving to his desk to search through the papers still lying there unsorted and yet unfiled, as well as an open coloring book he had been coloring in when Rodolphus had arrived. Finding what he was looking for, he went back to him, settling back down beside him and handing him a copy of the report he'd found. "It's about a young woman named Leta Lestrange."

"Leta Lestrange?" he took the paper from him, read what Roark had highlighted, and looking up in surprise. "From Leo? On a refugee ship?"

"Do you remember an aunt, or perhaps a cousin named Leta?"

He looked thoughtful as he tried to remember back that far. "Well, I was eight at the time, but…" he paused, "now that I think about it, Mother may have mentioned that Father had a cousin on Leo, but for whatever reason, her name was never mentioned, and she said he very rarely spoke of her, that she thought he may have disowned her."

"So what happened that your father would disown a cousin, refuse to talk about her?"

Rodolphus could only shake his head as he set the paper aside, then wrapped his arms around Roark, drawing him up over him. "As my father has been dead since I was seven there may be no way to find out, and with most of the information of that particular time destroyed in a Cylon raid not only on Leo, but here, we may never be able to find out."

"Perhaps not," Roark said as he leaned forward to kiss him, "but I'm going to keep looking as time permits. I love a good mystery, and you have to admit, this is a very good mystery."

Rodolphus chuckled, his hands sliding beneath Roark's robe. "I would expect nothing less of you, my love," he murmured, his head tilting back to allow his lovers lips to press to his throat, then move slowly down to his chest.

"Aren't you even the least bit curious?" he asked as his teeth closed lightly over a hardened nipple. He bit at it, laved his tongue over it, before closing his mouth over it to suck, hearing him moan.

"Umm…" he moaned as Roark moved to the right nipple to give it the same treatment as he had the left, shrugging his shoulders so that his robe fell off. "I am a bit," he gasped as his lover left his sensitized nipples to nip and suckle his way down to his stomach, then yet further, "but there seems to be something far more interesting happening right now. OH!" he gasped. "Gods, RORY!" he cried, his hands moved, sliding into the dark hair, holding his head as Roark's so hot, wet mouth closed completely over his cock. "OH! Oh, yes, baby, suck me!"

Within a few centons {minutes} of sucking, laving, nipping so very gently at the flushed spongy head, he had brought him to full arousal, and once he had, he pulled up of his cock with a pop, then lifted up to press his lips to Rodolphus' as he positioned himself over him, lowering himself slowly to take him deep inside of him. They both gave gasping cries as he began to move on him, slow and steady, lifting his head, silver eyes meeting the sherry brown as he thrust down, then drew up.

"Gods! This feels so good! Having you buried so deeply in me."

"Yes, baby, it does." He wrapped him in his arms, rolled and took him to his back as his hands moved to Roark's knees, lifting them up onto his shoulders before placing his hands flat to the carpeted floor and pushing himself up as he began to thrust with hard, deeply powerful strokes. "This however," he gasped, pressing their hips together, grinding deeply with every inward thrust "is even better."

"Deep!" he cried, his head arching back exposing his throat which made Rodolphus lower his head to press his lips into the hollow. "My Gods, Dolph, you're so deep in me!"

"Deeper. I have to be deeper." He pulled out of him, rolled him onto his stomach, grabbed a pillow to place under his hips, positioned himself and thrust, slamming himself deeply into the so tight, so hot cavern. "Yes!"

Roark caught at the blanket under him, his hands fisting in it as Edmund began to pound into him, seeming to go deeper, and with each inward thrust, he ground his hips to Roark's ass. "OH! OH, YES!" came his scream. "OH YES, DOLPH! YES, JUST LIKE THAT! OH, FUCK! YES, RIGHT THERE! OH, GODS, SO DEEP! YOU'RE SO DEEP INSIDE ME!"

"Keep screaming, lover," Rodolphus rasped as his thrusts began to shorten, to come harder, faster. "I want to hear you as I fuck you into the floor!"

"RODOLPHUS! OH, GODS YES! FUCK ME! FUCK ME HARD! FUCK ME DEEP AND FAST! OH! OHH GODS! YES! YES! I FEEL YOU! I FEEL YOU POUNDING INTO ME! OH, GODS, DOLPH, I'M COMING!"

"That's it. Yes, baby, come for me! Come now!"

"RODOLPHUS! OH! OH, GODS, YESS…SSS!" Roark felt his body splinter, then explode in an orgasm so intense he nearly passed out, also leaving him sweaty, shaking, and gasping for breath as he collapsed, his hips still on the pillow.

"ROARK!" came Rodolphus' deep cry and his own body exploded in intense orgasm, his thick, hot release flooding him completely as he too collapsed, but he had the presence of mind to roll to the side, pulling him into his arms.

cccVccc

It was a few sectons {weeks} later when Rodolphus received a message for him, Rabastan and Bellatrix to meet Riddle in warehouse ten. When they arrived a short time later, it was to see a furious Riddle pacing and ranting. Oh, yes. The man was FURIOUS.

Rodolphus and Rabastan stood off to one side, arms crossed over their chest, watching unemotionally, or so it seemed to anyone looking at them anyway as his wife fawned over him, trying to calm him and failing of course. Tom Riddle continued to raged that Sergeant Roark had closed the last pleasure house, his last gambling den and drug house. The last shipment of drugs from Leo had also been confiscated.

A smirk twisted his lips, wanting to smile widely as he glanced over at his brother to see him smirking as well as they watched Bella run her hands all over Tom Riddle, pressing against him, calling him her darling Lord, knowing exactly how Roark had finally gotten the location of those last three houses, as they had been a secret to all except to a select few. They, of course, weren't going to say a word. Not yet. It wasn't quite time yet. He still had a bit of work to do, lovers to still protect, before that bit of information was spoken of.

Thinking of their lovers…Roark and Harry had done all they'd said they were going to do, and so much more. No surprises there. They had known from the moment they'd met Roark and Harry that if anyone could stop Tom Riddles reign of terror, it would be them. Tenacious, stubborn, determined, they would not have quit until their goals had been accomplished, and that goal had been to destroy Tom Riddle completely, to make him pay the price for the murder of their parents. To utterly, and completely destroy every aspect of his business.

Rodolphus and Rabastan were very proud of them.

"ENOUGH BELLA!" he snarled, roughly pushing her away from him "I want them dead!" the out of control man raged at him. "TODAY! No more games you two! Kill the little bastards right now!"

They let their arms drop as they stepped forward. "Oh, he will be. It was our plan all along to bring the Potter boys before you and end their lives in front of your very eyes."

Tom Riddles eyes went very wide at the pleasure of that. "Yes!" he hissed. "I want to see them suffer before they die. See them BLEED! I want this finished."

We'll see who ends up finishing whom, Tom Riddle, Rodolphus thought as he looked over at his brother. "Fine. We'll give them their final warnings tonight."

cccVccc

Roark was at his desk, a fire burning in the fireplace, working on his computer, digging for information when he felt the presence behind him. He smiled, was about to turn to greet him, when he went still, his mind picking up on the silent warning being issued. He instead reached for a pen, wrote something down, lay his pen back down. He turned then, his face expressionless.

"Good evening, Rodolphus," he said, realizing at once that they were not as alone as it seemed they were, therefor the silent warning he'd picked up on when he had silently opened the terrace door.

"Not too busy, I hope?" he asked in an even, cold tone of voice.

"I'm never too busy to speak with you, Terminator. I was merely doing a bit of research before I started on my progress reports to Admiral Roark, Commander Thorin, Lt. Commander Dacian, and Lt. Colonel Gabriel."

A smirk. "You certainly have quite a lot to report, don't you?"

Roark gave him a smile. "That I do," he saw movement outside the terrace doors, and he raised a brow. "They'll be pleased with all the progress I've made."

Rodolphus raised a brow of his own as Roark's gaze slid past him. "Yes, I'm sure they will."

"It's cold, and it's started to snow, Rodolphus. Why don't you ask your friend to join us?" He stood as Rodolphus lifted a black gloved hand to his ear, pressed something, probably a button. Hum… He wearing a communication connection device then.

"Join us."

The patio door slid open and a man Roark had seen at a few of the drug dens, and one or two of the pleasure houses he'd raided entered his apartment. He'd always managed to elude capture after they'd entered the building.

"Ah yes, our escape artist. We've been looking for you." He said to the man before turning his attention back to his lover. "You usually come alone, Terminator, how nice of you to bring company this time. Drink?"

"Well, he's certainly a calm and collected one, isn't he Rodolphus?"

Rodolphus shrugged. "He always has been, Rodrick. It seems there's very little the Lieutenant is afraid of. Saggitarian brandy."

A nod as he moved to the sideboard. "Rodrick?"

"I'll have the same," he said, his eyes moving over him slowly. "I do wonder though just what it would be like to fuck that tight ass of yours."

Roark turned with a tumbler in each hand. "No chance you'll ever find out," came coldly as he passed over the glasses, seeing the flicker of fury in his lover's eyes.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that, Lieutenant, were I you," he growled. "You're not even armed," he took a couple of steps closer

"So sure, of that, are you?" he asked, feeling safe enough with Rodolphus there to turn his back to pick up his wine. He felt the man move up behind him, and he turned suddenly, a very sharp knife coming up to press against his neck. "Ah, ah. Don't touch, Rodrick," he murmured, his tone like ice. "I belong to a very possessive man, one who would be very angry that you dared to touch what isn't yours to touch. Now…" a pause as hard, cold silver eyes met Rodrick's, "I suggest you back off."

"Enough!" Rodolphus snapped, keeping his fury under control. He would be dealing with Rodrick very shortly. "Rodrick, back off!"

"Unless, of course, you're ready to die." The knife pressed a bit deeper into the flesh of his neck, drawing blood. "I'd be most happy to oblige you, Rodrick."

"One day, Lieutenant," he growled, backing away.

"But not tonight, Rodrick," he said, sheathing the blade, his eyes shifting to Rodolphus, whose fury was bubbling in his eyes. He picked up his glass of wine, sipped. "Now then, since that unpleasantness is out of the way…" he paused, looked over at his lover, nearly smiled, "what do you want, Rodolphus?

A brow rose as he drank from his own glass. "Just what makes you think I want anything from you, Roark?"

Roark returned to his desk, sat, looked up at him to meet his eyes. "Then what are you and your… guest, doing here? Your friend just failed to scare me, and you don't make courtesy calls. So, say what you came to say."

Rodolphus smirked to hide his smile. Very good, my love, he thought. "My, my, how bold and business like you are. Short, and to the point." He drank down the brandy, set his glass down. "Alright then, my message to you is this. I'm going to kill you. When you least expect it, where you feel the safest, in a way you can't imagine. Very soon, Roark."

A brow went up. "Why not just do it now?

"Oh no, not yet. There's plans being made for you and for your brother. Let's go, Rodrick. There's something I need to take care of before I can head home for the night." He looked over at Roark, touched his fingers to his forehead, then left the apartment after Rodrick.

cccVccc

"Rodrick."

"What?" he turned, then when he saw the high-powered laser, held by a steady hand pointed at his head. He looked up, met the ice cold dark sherry gaze. "What are you doing, Rodolphus?" he asked, a tremble in his voice.

A cold smirk. "My job, of course. It seems we were being played. Tell me, what do you know of the spy in the Colonial service?"

"Ardyn? Not much really. He's addicted to pain meds. Tom was able to get to him with an offer of stronger, better pain meds, and more money than his pay."

"Of course he did. I assume he had Melody kill Lt. Tristyn because he'd managed to find all of that out."

"Yes. He also ordered that Lt.'s Logan and Kili be taken out as well, but then Lieutenant Roark sent them home. We had to contract a couple of Terminator's on Caprica to take care of them. Obviously, they failed when they got impatient, tried to take them out near Colonial Headquarters."

Rodolphus shook his head. "Tom hires way too many idiots to work for him. Now, on to the Lieutenant. You are aware, of course, that you should not have attempted to touch him. He wasn't yours to touch."

His brow furrowed into a frown. "What? Oh, come on, Tom made him fair game to anyone who claim him."

"Ah…Well see, that's where you went wrong. He's already BEEN claimed, and as he said, he now belongs to VERY possessive man, who is, by the way, absolutely furious you dared to touch what wasn't yours to touch."

"What are you talk-" but then realization and his face went white. "YOU!" he gasped, then looked over his shoulder when he heard the footsteps. A grinning Rabastan stepped into view, wiping blood from his hands with a cloth.

"Yes. Me." He clanked over a brow raising. "What happened?"

"He tried to make a move on what was mine. I didn't like that. Any more than you did Rodrick making a move on Rory."

"Riddle knew Maurice and I were with you. He'll hear about this, and he'll know you two did it."

Twin brows rose at that. "Will he indeed?" came Rabastan deeply amused question.

"It's been nearly ten yahren {year}, and he STILL hasn't figured out it was us killing his people, us sabotaging some of his jobs. Besides, in a few days, it's not going to matter. Once we give Harry and Roark the proof they needs that Ardyn was our spy, they will take care of him, then they will be ready to make their final move on Riddle."

Rodrick turned to run then, but Rodolphus fired. Rodrick gave a cry, then fell. He was dead before he hit the ground. With a self-satisfied feeling, he turned to Rabastan. "Are you going back to Harry?"

A nod. "See you tomorrow morning," he turned and headed back the way he had come, whistling a cheerful tune. It was all going to coming to an end very soon.

cccVccc

A short time later, fresh from a shower, he slid into bed beside him, an arm slipping around his waist to draw him back against him, pressing a kiss to his neck just below his ear. "I'm sorry, baby," he murmured.

Roark turned over to face him, his hand raising to touch his jaw. "Why should you be sorry?"

"For Rodrick, though you handled him very well."

He gave him a smile. "I've had quite a bit of practice. Why was he here with you?"

"Riddle of course. He's furious about you closing the last of the houses and the drug dens. He wanted me to kill you instantly, but I told him it was always our intention to bring you before him to kill you both. He liked that idea very much."

A snort as Roark snuggled closer to Rodolphus' warm body. "Of course he did."

"I told him I'd give you your final warning tonight. Rodrick insisted on coming with me just as Maurice went with Rabastan. As both of them are Riddle's current bed pets, Riddle agreed. I didn't expect him to try to move on you the way he did, anymore than Rabastan expected Maurice to make a move on Harry, though given the eager look in both of their eyes when Riddle said they could come with us, we should have expected they were up to something."

"It wasn't your fault, Rodolphus, and I certainly don't blame you."

"Even so," he shook his head, "I should have known he was going to attempt something."

"Dolph, stop-"

A kiss was pressed to his lips to stop him speaking further. "It doesn't matter now. They won't be bothering you, or anyone else for that matter."

A brow went up at that. "Oh? Won't they?"

"No. They were on our list of targets anyway, and he had the information we needed on who our spy was."

"Did he give you that information?"

Rodolphus raised a brow. "Of course he did, darling. It's Ardyn, just as we always suspected. Riddle was giving him all the pain meds he wanted, plus a heathy bonus of money."

A deep sigh. "I figured as much."

"Besides," he bent his head, brushed another kiss to his lips, "he touched you, and I am a very possessive man."

Another snort, this one full of amusement. "That would be an understatement if ever I've heard one," he said, his silver eyes sparkling with laughter.

"I think things are about to come to a head, babe. As I was leaving to come here tonight, I heard him order Bellatrix to take a child."

"Agreed. When do you think he'll move?"

"Very soon. As soon as he knows you've ignored my last warning. Are you ready for this?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," he said, turning into him, his hands slipping up his chest, fingers twining through the dark hair, finding his nipples.

Rodolphus gave a soft moan. "I'm likely not going to be able to come to you until this is over. Promise me you'll be careful around Ardyn until he can be arrested."

"You don't have to worry about him, love, he's being watched even as we speak," he murmured, arms now circling his neck. "If you're not going to be able to come to me, maybe we should make this night count as it may be our last for a few days."

Rodolphus smiled, let himself be drawn down over him. "Perhaps we should at that," he murmured as he bent to take his lips in a deep passionate kiss even as his hand pushed away the sheet and blanket that covered them.

cccVccc

Rodolphus was sitting in the middle of his bed, the contents of the metal box that had taken him several sectar {months} to find, spread out on the bed around him.

There were two necklaces of intricate lattice work in silver, both bearing the Crest Symbols of the ancient Kobolian noble family of Lestrange. The necklaces looked like they could be worn two ways. Alone, or as part of the Colonial Warriors dress uniform. There were also several rings. Two intricately gold engraved silver bands with the very rare white and dark blue sapphires. Two intricately silver engraved gold bands that had the even rarer white sapphire and blood red rubies. Two filigree silver bands with dark green emeralds and white sapphires, and two filigree gold with deep purple amethysts and white sapphires. There were other rings as well, all in silver gold, a couple were even platinum with several different rare precious gems in them. He figured some could be used as betrothal and sealing bands.

There were also quite a few holographic photos, mostly of his mother, and the man he barely recognized to be his father dressed as the aristocracy of Kobol. There were also photos of his much younger father with two other very beautiful young women who looked exactly like him only younger and while one had deep dark brown eyes, the other had laughing, startling bright silver eyes. This had to be Roark's mother. There were other photos of the other young girl holding him, looking sad as she did. Then, finally buried at the bottom of the pile were a few photos of Roark's mother holding him when he was a newborn, only a few sectons {hours} old.

His mother had died before these holograms were even taken. So how could they have gotten into the Lestrange family storage box? That meant both of these young woman were family, and that they had known where and how to find the box, but obviously fearing it would fall into the wrong hands, they had hidden it in a new place and left the clues he had used to find it.

Also, at the bottom of the beautiful fire resistant, water resistant platinum box, the lid engraved with the Lestrange family crest he found a bundle of letters, all banded together with a red satin ribbon. Then, finally, at the very bottom was a still sealed envelope. Looking at the photos, Rodolphus had begun to get a feeling of dread, because the more he pulled out, the more it was beginning to look like he, Rabastan and Roark were related. The envelope had his and Rabastan names on it, and when he tore it open, its contents spilled into his lap.

"My Dearest Sons," he began to read., but stopped when he heard the door and looked up to see Rabastan staring in shock at the box.

"You found it."

He nodded, holding up the paper. "She wrote us a letter. There are two woman I don't know, and one of them looks remarkably like Roark. Come look at these and I'll read this out loud."

Rabastan crossed the room to take a seat on the huge king size bed that his brother shared with Bellatrix, taking the holograms passed to him. "As I lie here in my bed to write this letter to you," Rodolphus began to read, "I have little hope that I will be alive much longer as my injuries from the attack are severe. Corvus has been dead two yahrens now and I feel you need to know the truth. The two young woman in the hologram's I have placed in the box are your fathers cousin's Leta and Selina Lestrange.

"Yes, my beloved sons, you read right. Your father's cousins. You see, my dearest, the twin sisters were the last surviving heirs of his disowned uncle. Disowned because he had married beneath the Lestrange standards. I know very little of his brother, but once I learned of the girls, and where they lived, I went to Leo to meet them, and we became very close. Secretly, I began to collect holographs, hoping to one day add them to the Lestrange Family Box. Which I have just now done. I had hoped to be able to introduce you to them, but that just was not to happen.

"I now beg of you both, once you find this box, go to Leo and meet your cousins. I know you will both love them as I do. From your loving and deeply adoring mother."

Rabastan reached out to pick up a sealed envelope, saw their names written on it and opened it. "It's from Leta," he breathed in near disbelief. "As I sit to write this I don't know either of you, and I don't know that I will ever get the chance to meet you, let alone get to know you. Rodolphus, Rabastan, my beloved twin sister is dead, killed in the Cylon attack on Leo mere days ago, along with the man she had married secretly only a few sectars {months} before. Lying in the bassinette at the side of my bed is my new born nephew, now an orphan.

"I have, however, come to the very difficult decision that I must put him up for adoption on Caprica. You are both probably wondering right now how I could do such a thing to a nephew I already adore beyond words, and why I chose Caprica. Do not mistake me, dear cousins, but there just was not any choice as I have absolutely no way to take the proper care of him as he deserves. Giving up my nephew, your cousin, whom my sister has named Roark Christopher, was the hardest thing I have ever had to do." Rabastan stopped reading with a gasp. "Dolph, he's our cousin! It's no wonder we feel so connected to him."

Oh, Gods! He was right! He felt his heart break with the truth of what he was hearing. "Go on, Bas, finish reading it," he said huskily.

Rabastan nodded, returning his gaze to the letter that Leta had written to them. Finding where he had left off, he continued, "I cried for days as his adoption was being arranged and processed. I thank the Lords of Kobol, and our dear ancestors, for allowing me the right to choose the family that he would go to. By the time you find and finally read this I will likely be dead as the Cylons are, even now approaching Aquaria, depending on rather or not you have all inherited the Lestrange gifts, the strength of both of your gifts and how close you are to one another, you may be able to sense him, and hopefully, you will begin to search for him. I beg of you, cousins, when and if you do find him, you will take these two sealed letters to him. One is a letter from his mother, the other is from me, explaining my actions and the reasons for them.

"Roark was adopted by Commander James Potter, and his wife Lily, who is the eldest daughter of Commander Jacob Adama. They have a son of their own, named Hadrian James and he is four yahren {year} old, the perfect age for Roark to have a big brother. Into their care, I also gave a letter to give to your cousin when he was old enough to understand. The Adama's themselves have three other children, two sons named Apollo and Zac, and another daughter, Athena.

"Please, my cousins, see that he gets these letters. I was never told anything about his father except that he was the Commander of a Battlestar. For reasons of her own, my sister Selena wouldn't share any further details as, she said, he had not yet had a chance to speak to his sons from his first marriage. She didn't even tell me which Battlestar he was serving on. Maybe if he sees this letter, and reads the one Selena left him, as I know not what she wrote to him, he may be able to find out who his father was, and hence find his family, whoever they may be.

"Forgive me, cousins for not trying to find you both, but as I sit to write this, neither of you are on Aquaria and I have not the means to look for you beyond here. Farewell, and though we have never met, please know that I love you both regardless. Leta Lestrange-Kenzie."

Rabastan let the letter fall from his suddenly nerveless fingers, feeling unexpected tears fill his eyes, as he had not cried in a very long, long time as he looked at his brother. It was then the realization hit him. Rodolphus had been sleeping with, making love to, and with… and according to what he had told him, having the most incredible sex of his life WITH THEIR COUSIN. And to make matters worse, if they could get any worse. He was totally, completely in love with his him!

"Rodolphus, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Dear Gods, Bas, I just don't know. He's our cousin." Lifting a shaking hand, he rubbed it over his face, wiping at his own tears that had begun to fall. Well, crying about this mess wasn't going to solve anything. He reached out, picking up a holographic photo of his cousin Leta, showing him a woman that looked very tired and sad. A smile curved her lips. There was also a look of utter defeat in her dark brown eyes. In her arms, she held the infant Roark waving his arms.

"Gods, what the hell am I supposed to do now?" he asked as he fell back on the bed, feeling Rabastan lay down beside him, wrapping an arm around him. He closed his eyes, throwing his right arm over them, trying to think about what he could do, but nothing seemed to work, his mind was just racing too much.

Oh, Gods! Roark. In such a short time, he had become his love, his heart and his soul. He had become the light that drove away the darkness within him. He was the man he had come to crave, emotionally, mentally, physically. The man who had become everything to him in so short a time. The man he now realized that he not only wanted in his arms, his bed, and his life in the immediate future, but for the rest of his life.

Slowly, as he lay there, his beloved younger brother holding him close, his mind began to calm. He could finally set aside his feelings of anger, of fear, and allow himself to think about what he needed to do. Aside from being an empath, so much of what had happened between them mentally wise was now understandable from the moment their eyes had met. That instant recognition, that connection that had shattered all the blocks that had been on Roark's gifts. And finally, the bond that was now fully active within them both.

But now, beyond the bond that bound them physically and emotionally, there was a new bond that had opened on the street before the cantina a few days ago. A bond that Rodolphus now recognized as their familial bond. It was however, the bond that had formed the first time they'd had sex that was the strongest. In fact, the longer they were together, whether they made love or not, that one bond was becoming deeper, stronger, cementing and twining within them, binding them irrevocably together.

He could…not tell him, he thought. He could just ignore, forget that he'd found the box at all. He could destroy all the letters and holographic photo's, deny they were cousins at all. But then his conscious kicked in. To do that wouldn't be right at all. Nor would it be fair. Roark deserved to know the truth. He deserved to know that he was adopted by the Adama's. He deserved to know about who his true family was, whoever they were. He needed to find out who his father had been, and the brothers and sisters he likely had.

"We'll figure something out, Dolph," came softly in his ear. "He's not a real close relation—"

"He's close enough."

A buzz from his telecom had him sitting up and reaching over to push the red button. "What?" he growled at whoever was on the other side

"Warehouse ten. It's time. Get there as soon as you can."

"We're on our way." He returned coldly, ending the call abruptly. "We deal with Riddle first," he said looking at his brother, who had gotten to his feet as soon as Rodolphus had picked up the com link, buckling his weapons belt back on, "then we can sit down with Roark and Harry and tell them what we've found out."

"Agreed."

They returned everything to the box, closed its lid and heard the automatic locks click. Sliding off his bed, he moved to hide the box with all the other things he wished to keep hidden from prying eyes. Now it was time to finish this. Once Riddle, Bellatrix and Ardyn were in Counter Intelligence custody, or dead, he could deal with this mess his personal life had just become.

cccVccc

Roark was in his office, working at his desk when his door slid open and a grim looking Payton and Kili entered with…

"Siress Malcolm?" he stood immediately, seeing the fear and tears in her eyes. "What's happened?"

"They've taken my baby!" she cried, surging forward toward him.

Roark moved around his desk quickly to catch the distraught woman in his arms. "Easy now, Siress Malcolm. I need you to try to calm down," he said calmly, moving her to one if the chairs before his desk.

Harry was there then, squatting down on the other side of her chair, laying a hand on her arm. "Take a couple of deep breaths, release them slowly…Good, now again."

Roark smiled at his brother, then turned his attention back to Siress Malcolm. "Better?" she nodded. "Now, tell us what happened?"

"Kody was out in the front yard—thank you Lt." she said as Kili brought her a cup of strong, black sweet tea."

"You're welcome. Father's always telling us tea is the best thing to give someone who needs to settle their nerves."

"And your father would be right. Anyway," she went on after sipping from the cup, "Kody was playing with his puppy. I left him for only a few centons {minutes} to go check on dinner. When I returned to the front yard, the puppy was dead, and Kody was gone," she drew out a piece of folded paper. "This was lying on the puppy.

Roark took the crumpled paper, smoothed it out, and read the scrawled words. "Tell the Lieutenant we have the boy," he read out loud. "Payton, Kili, call the team together. This ends. Now."

Payton and Kili both pulled their communicators from their belts as Siress Malcolm began to cry. "But why take my son?"

"Because Riddle knows we'll come after him. Siress Malcolm, I want you to go home and wait. I realize how hard that will be on you, but for right now it's the best place for you to be. We will bring Kody home to you."

She nodded, gave him a smile as she rose to her feet. His office door slid open, "I'll leave you to do your job then. Please Lt. Roark, Lt. Hadrian bring my baby back to me."

"That is our intent. Would you like an escort home? I can—

"No. I'll be fine. You're going to need all your people to take down that monster," she gave those who had arrived in Roark and Harry's office a smile, then left.

Looking around his office he saw that everyone had arrived and said. "Here's the situation. Riddle has taken a five yahren {year} old boy. We are going to get him back and end this once and for all. Now, Riddle has several new warehouses that we have been unable to find somewhere in the warehouse district," Roark said as he spread a map out over his desk. "Jordan, take ten warriors. I want you to search the south district. Tyler take another ten and take the east. Aiden take another ten and take the west side, and I will take the north.

"I have received a box of brand new communication connection devisees from the Admiral," going around his desk, he pulled open the drawer to draw out a box, "this will be the perfect time to break them in."

"Definitely the perfect time," Harry said as Roark opened the box and began to pass out the ear pieces, which they immediately put in their ears. "Now those of use in Counter Intelligence have homing beacons in our chronometers, so if you find them, do not move in. Activate your beacon, and we'll all converge on the warehouse you found them in. We can make further plans once we get an idea what the lay out of the area is."

"Payton, Ethan, Logan, Fili and Kili, you're with me and Harry. Rohan, I'd like for you, Gwydion, Morgan, and Uncle Apollo to be with Ardyn and the reinforcements. I'd like to end this once and for all today. Any questions?

"No. It sounds like a good plan to me, Rory. Take enough men with us, but still leave enough here to keep an eye on things," Alexei said.

He nodded. "Let's get ready then and get moving. We have a scared little boy to find, and a monster to bring down once and for all."

cccVccc

"What are you thinking about so hard, Rory?" Fili asked, his eyes on Roark's face after they'd sent the warriors they'd brought with them to search the immediate are

"I think he's completely lost it, that this is obviously his final play to draw us all out. He's beyond furious now, and he wants us all, but especially me and Harry, dead. Rodolphus told me the last time I saw him that he'd told Riddle that he and Rabastan intended to kill me and Harry in front of him,"

"So, they're both likely to be with him." Kili said, looking around them.

"Or at the very least they'll be nearby." Harry told them as they walked through the city square toward their destination.

"I can sense him," Roark murmured, "sense them both so I know they're not far. Their emotions are usually bound so tight I can't read him, but today…Today, something is very wrong. They're both extremely upset about something." His head tilted slightly, a small smirk twisting his lips. "He knows I'm trying to read him," he shook his head, "and he won't let me in. Rabastan just locked me out as well."

"Can you tell what it is?" Ethan asked, moving to his side.

A shake of his head. "No. They've blocked whatever it is off, so the only thing I can figure… Whatever it is, it concerns me somehow, concerns us. He's not particularly worried, but he is angry, deeply disturbed."

"Why this boy, do you think?"

"Because he knew we'd move more quickly." Harry said, looking at his brother worriedly. "Some of his people probably saw me and Roark talking to Kody, visiting him when we had the time, and he figured we'd react much faster. Any child would have done it, but by taking Kody, he figured that would make us very furious."

"Which it has," Roark growled, his silver eyes narrowing.

"It shows how your control has grown that you're not showing it." Ethan said. "So where do you think they are?"

"Hum…" Roark was silent as they continued to walk, their eyes sharp for any unexpected visitors. "Rodolphus and Rabastan are not too far from warehouse ten, so it's my bet they're either in that warehouse, or in either eleven or nine. Let's head over that way."

"Rory, do you think you'll ever go back to Saggitara?"

"No, Payton. Never. Let's activate our beacons. Better to be safe than sorry. Once we reach ten, we'll split up, do a perimeter check," he put the ear piece of the communication connection piece into his ear. "Jordan? Tyler? Aiden? Rohan? Status?"

"Reading you," came Jordan's voice.

"Same here," answered Tyler

"We're heading your way right now," said Aidan.

"Where are they, Rory?"

"They're in one of three warehouses. Nine, ten or eleven are all grouped close together. We're going to split up, look at all three."

"Understood. Be careful, boys." Alexei ordered. "If I have to tell Dad, Uncle Thorin, or any of the family we've lost any of you, I'll kick your asses."

"If we're dead, how can you kick our asses, Lexi?"

"Believe me, Logan, I'd find a way. Trust me on that, little brother."

"Alright, you two, that's enough," Roark said with a chuckle. "Harry, you, Ethan, and Payton go to the right. Fili, Kili, you go straight ahead, Logan and I will take the left," he murmured. "Let's go and watch yourselves."

Nods as they split up, beginning to move around to the building to their right, but as they moved closer to warehouse nine, the stronger the feeling that they were going in the wrong direction became. There was also an intensifying sense of wrong. He stopped suddenly, his hand wrapping around Logan's wrist. He squeezed.

Logan looked over at him, and Roark pointed back the way they'd come, leaning close to murmur, "I don't think they're in nine. The further away I get from ten, the more I feel we're going in the wrong direction."

Logan nodded. "I agree, nine feels wrong all together." Together they turned, heading back the way they'd come, moving a bit more quickly. They heard laser fire and began to run toward the sound, each drawing their own lasers as they rounded the corner to warehouse ten. "Captured," he murmured, taking in the scene at a glance. "Looks like Payton and Kili are wounded."

"We're getting close," Jordan said.

Roark suddenly felt a very dark, very menacing presence behind them and whirled, his laser raised and aimed. "That won't be too difficult. I've just met Tom Riddle, no introduction needed," he murmured. "And hey, how about that, the cackling Harridan at his side must be Rodolphus' wife."

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Lieutenant's Roark and Hadrian Potter, I believe?"

Roark glanced over at his brother when he felt his anger spike, then returned his gaze to Tom Riddle. He was tall, very thin, his eyes a frozen, beady black, his hair was, for the most part black, except for the white at his temples. His skin didn't look heathy at all though, being very pale with a slight yellowish tinge. As he studied him, he relayed his observations to the others.

"Hum…sounds like his liver may be going." Sebastien said quietly.

His eyes shifted now, looking at all the men that now surrounded them, giving a count to the others, but then he saw his lover and his brother. Rodolphus and Rabastan had just moved up behind and slightly to the left and right of Riddle. Their faces were completely expressionless, though they had smirks on their lips, and Roark could feel just how tense the brothers had become.

"Bella do stop cackling and stand still for Kobol's sake," Rodolphus growled at her harshly, glancing over at her.

He looked over at Logan, nodded. They lowered their arms, holstering their lasers as Roark looked back. "Harry? Ethan? Fili?"

"They're just grazes," Ethan answered the unasked question as the five of them moved to join them, Harry bumping his shoulder against Roark's.

"I think we may be in a bit of trouble, little brother." Harry said, looking around them with a wry expression.

A snort sounded as Fili moved up beside him. "Bit of an understatement don't you think?

Roark smirked. "Why Harry, Fili whatever leads you to that conclusion?" he asked of him just as wryly. "Ki, you okay?"

"I'm fine, though Dad's going to have a conniption. Wounded twice in less than a couple sectar {months}. Same damn shoulder too."

"Payton?"

"Oh, it's nothing too awful bad. Stings like a bitch, but I've been hurt worse than this before. Besides, by the looks of that skinny guy over there, it may not matter all that much. If looks alone could kill, we'd all have been dead when he first appeared."

"That bastard lays a hand on any of you," came the whisper in their ears, "he's going to be the one who is dead."

"We need him alive, Lex." Aiden murmured. "Rohan's on the way with the reinforcement's. Be advised, Ardyn has disappeared."

Harry nearly snorted but managed to control himself as he looked at Riddle with narrowed emerald green eyes. "Of course, he has. Probably on his way here to meet up with Riddle."

"If he does show, we'll deal with him the same way we'll deal with Riddle. As for the way he's looking at us, if he has his way, it won't matter at all," Roark said easily, "but I don't intend to let him have his way." He raised a brow as he looked over at Riddle. "Well, Riddle? It's your play. What's your next move going to be?

"Rodolphus and Rabastan were right about you Potter boys. You are one cool customer, aren't you? This is hardly a game."

"I'm a Counter Intelligence Officer. There is no other way to be."

"Ah…I see. Well then, let's just move this inside, shall we?" Riddle turned, a hand held out for them to proceed them into warehouse ten.

Once they were inside the warehouse, they all saw Kody right away, tear tracks running down his dirty face, two big men standing on either side of him, one with a hand on the small shoulder. As soon as Kody saw Harry and Roark, he turned, drew back his foot and gave the man who held him a mighty kick to the shin. The man released him, swearing sharply as he fell.

Kody ran immediately for the safety that was Harry, Roark and the other Counter Intelligence Officers. Roark caught the boy against him, hugging him to his side. "Are you alright, Kody?" he asked gently, as the four Durin's moved around them.

Trying to put on a brave face, he looked up at him and said, "They killed my puppy, Mr. Roark. I'm tired, and hungry. I want to go home and see Mama."

"I'm sure you do, Kody," Harry said with a reassuring smile at him, "and you'll be doing that very soon, I promise. We'll also see about getting you another puppy, okay? Now, I want you to do me a favor and go stand with the Durin's. Rory and I would rather not have you in the line of fire."

Kody left Roark's embrace and went immediately to the men behind him. "I recognize you. You were with Mr. Roark when I ran into him."

A wide smile. "That I was. I'm Lt. Payton Durin, this one here is my older brother Captain Ethan, my younger brother Lt. Logan, and finally the other two is our cousins, Captain Fili and Lt. Kili. We're going to protect you while Roark and Harry deal with the bad man. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes sir, but you and Mr. Kili are hurt."

Kili knelt in front of the boy and looked him in the eye. "We don't want you to worry about these little scratches. As soon as we all get out of this mess, my cousin and Payton's older brother Doctor-Major Sebastien will fix us right up. Then we can go and let you choose a new puppy. Does that sound okay with you?"

Being very careful not to hurt his arm, Kody snuggled close to Kili, feeling safer now then he had since that cackling woman had shot his puppy and grabbed him.. "That sounds good to me, Mr. Kili. But…could we go to my house first do you think? I bet my Mama is probably very worried about me and would like to see that I'm alright."

"She is, and yes, I think a trip to your house would be a very good idea."

"Now, now, gentlemen, let's not go making the boy any promises you're not going to be able to keep. You've all caused me quite a bit of trouble and even more damage, and as soon as I take care or all of you, things can return too normal."

"That, Riddle, is where you are mistaken. You may have captured us, but there are still several other Counter Intelligence Officers out there, and there are even more on Caprica."

"I'm not too worried about that. I'm quite sure they'll be dealt with," he turned his head with a smile. "Yes, Rodolphus? Rabastan?"

"Of course, Tom," they answered him as one, their tone bitterly cold.

Roark had to smile for he also heard the slight edge of disgust in their voices even if no-one else did. "So, you think you're that good, do you, Rodolphus? Has no one ever told you, Terminator, that there's a match out there for all of us? Eventually, you and your brother will meet yours, if you haven't already."

Roark and the five Durin's saw amusement flicker through the Lestrange's eyes, but then it was gone, quickly shut down, though Bellatrix's eyes narrowed on her husband before her gaze went to the Potter boys. "Indeed," he snapped. "But not today, and certainly not you, Lieutenant," he said, moving toward him.

"As if the two of you could ever be a match for us," Rabastan said with a glare.

"Oh, I don't know. I thought we made pretty good matches over the last yahren {year"}, don't you? Kept up rather nicely with you both." Harry grinned at him

Well pretended sneers from them both. "Not nearly quite as well as you seem to think."

"Oh dear, it seems you've annoyed them, Lieutenant." Riddle said with a sneer.

"Then I guess we can die happy men to have provoked some kind of reaction from them, even if it is only annoyance," he shot back, a smile twisting his lips as he looked up at Rodolphus.

"You're not going to be smiling for much longer," Rodolphus said, reaching his side, his thoughts and feelings not nearly as tightly bound as he thought they were, as both Ethan and Kili got worried looks on their faces, though neither looked at him. "You, Lieutenant, are about to die," he snapped, noticing their looks as he pulled Roark's laser pistol from its holster, and sliding it into his own weapons belt, watching as Rabastan did the same with Harry.

Roark turned his head, a brow raising when Rodolphus then drew one of his blades from his own belt. "Harry and I may very well die here today, Rodolphus, but then, warriors have a habit of dying. As our Lords of Kobol will it."

Roark felt…what was that? A strong sense of doubt mixed with regret. He also felt the admiration and respect, saw both enter his eyes, glanced over at Rabastan. 'Dolph, Basti, what is it? What is it that you're both regretting and doubting?' He tried to reach deeper, sensed…felt something, and knew immediately what he was feeling now was the very first bond that had developed when Rodolphus had first entered his apartment.

A bond that was a lot stronger now. Suddenly, he felt Rodolphus tense, and his head snapped around. "Ah…there you are, Ardyn. We were beginning to wonder when you would show your traitorous self."

A look of shock transformed his face. "You're not surprised," he said, looking at them

"Of course, we're not surprised," Roark said with a slight tilt of his head. "We've suspected for several sectars {months} that you were one of our spies. We were just waiting on the proof to do something about it."

"Congratulations Ardyn, you managed to cover your tracks better than most." Harry said, anger stirring in his eyes.

"You mean your informants didn't tell you it was me all along?"

"They didn't know for sure it WAS you, though like me, they had both suspected all along. One of them did manage to get the proof we needed when he dealt with Rodrick though. Seems you were as good at hiding who YOU were, as they were at hiding who THEY are, though I bet you STILL haven't guessed who OUR informants are," his head turned when he heard sputtered swearing. "Why Riddle, whatever is the matter with you?" he asked in amusement.

"Informants?!" he shouted. "What informants?!"

A brow went up. "You mean you didn't know? Ardyn, shame on you for not telling him how we were getting all that information we were getting."

"I thought he already knew that he had someone close to him supplying you with information."

"Well, I didn't," the man in question snarled furiously, looking around at several of the men who were with him, then back at Roark, his face red with his fury. "You know who they are!" he shouted at them, saw them smile.

Roark shrugged. "Of course, I know who they are. Have known for…oh…several sectars {month} at least."

"Tell me who he is!" he demanded furiously.

"Sorry, no can do." Harry said with a pleased chuckle as he watched Tom Riddle rage. "It's not our place to tell you anything about either of them. It's up to them to come forward." He wanted badly to lean back into Rabastan but locked his body to keep himself from doing just that.

"Then they're here in the building!" he screamed angrily at them.

"Um...perhaps." He smirked at him, watching his face go nearly purple with fury.

"You know," Roark spoke up then in amusement, "you really should calm down before you give yourself a coronary. We wouldn't want you to drop over dead before you're oh so wonderful Terminators here slices our throats open, now would we?"

"He's your lover!" Ardyn gasped out. "The informants is your mystery lovers!"

"We're all in place now, Rory," came Rohan's whisper into his ear. "Ready to move on your say so."

Ardyn moved forward a few steps. "You tell me who he is! You tell me right now, Roark Potter! You were to be mine!"

Now Roark stepped forward snapping at him harshly. "I was NEVER yours, Ardyn, and where you got that idea that I was I will never know, nor do I care." He saw Ardyn eyes flare with fury, his mouth open. "Enough!" he barked out. "We are taking Kody and leaving."

"I have more men then you do, Lieutenant. I also have plans for that boy. He'll be a rather handsome young one once he grows a little. I think I'll use him to restart that pleasure house you set fire too."

Roark felt two things very strongly at once. Complete utter disgust, and a firestorm of fury. "My Gods," he breathed, "you are one sick bastard."

"Why, I'm hurt, Lieutenant Roark, but business is business, after all. Some like them young. The younger, in fact, the better."

Roark went to take a step closer, but an arm wrapped around his neck, stopping him as he felt the cold bite of steel at his neck, felt Rodolphus' chest against his back. : Easy, babe. Don't lose your temper now, or he'll get what he wants from you. :

Roark froze, shock flaring in him, though he managed to hide it. "You won't get away with this, Riddle." He said in a cold tone of voice, forcing himself to calm down. "I'm not going to let you get away with this."

: Better. :

: Rodolphus? Rabastan? :

: Of course, love. Now settle yourself."

"Ah, but it seems to me you are in no position to do anything about it now."

Now Roark gave him a thin smile. "You think so? You're a gambling man, aren't you, Riddle? Would you care to make a bet on that?"

"Roark!" Barked out several amused voices in his ear at once, as well as from his brother and the five Durin's that were with him in the warehouse.

"The odds, Lieutenant, would seem to be in my favor."

"Seem to be would be right," he agreed, but then his lips twisted into a grin. "Surely you can't have thought we came alone? Come on now, you're smarter than that…" his head tilted. "Well, maybe you aren't." He shook his head. "Surely you had to have realized we had several other warriors with us. That we're long past due for our check in. They'll have reported back to Major Alexei that we didn't meet them when we were supposed to. Surely Riddle, you have realized that you're surrounded by the entire team of Counter Intelligence Officers, as well as about fifty warriors from the garrison by now?" he watched as stunned surprise transformed the nearly purple, furious face.

Roark gave a sigh and shook his head. "No, I guess you didn't. Really, Riddle, for a smuggler-slaver-drug runner, you really are NOT a very smart man."

"Oh for Kobol's sake, Roark," came out on a deep sigh. "MUST you antagonize the man, darling?" the question, while resigned, also held vast amounts of amusement.

"Tom Riddle!" came the shout from outside. "This is Major Alexei Durin of Colonial Counter Intelligence! We have this warehouse surrounded! There is no way out! Release your prisoners now, and surrender!"

NOW Roark leaned back into him. "Why yes, Rodolphus, I do. I always have the most fun when I can point out the obvious to the idiots."

Rodolphus chuckled as he removed the blade from his lover's neck as beside them, Rabastan was doing the same. "Of course, you do," he said wryly.

"Rodolphus?" his gaze shifted as he saw Rabastan place a kiss to Hadrian Potter's temple. "Rabastan?" came the truly shocked question as he watched his two top Terminators, his left-hand man, with whom he had entrusted everything to, move now to Roark's side and bend to give him a passionate kiss. "NO! It can't be you!"

"Traitor!" Bellatrix shrieked. "Betrayer of marriage vows!"

Rodolphus ended the kiss to look at Riddle with a smirk. "Can't it? Shall I introduce myself properly, then? Major Rodolphus Lestrange, Colonial Counter Intelligence."

"And I," Rabastan said with a smirk and a very slight bow, "am Captain Rabastan Lestrange, Colonial Counter Intelligence. We have, Tom Riddle, been in place here for nearly ten yahren {year}. Oh and Bella, if anyone betrayed their vows, it was you. Nearly from the beginning."

Roark was staring at Riddle, saw what appeared to be a kind of grayish-black, misty type shadow around him, and as he thought back, he remembered now that he'd seen one around Tristyn. He realized then that this man would rather die than give up. Looking over at Rodolphus to say so, he was horrified to see the same grayish-black misty type shadow around him as well. OH, HELL NO! THAT was so NOT going to happen!

"YOU!" Ardyn shouted, drawing Roark's eyes to his furious face. "You stole him from me!"

"He was never yours to begin with, Grenville. You never stood a chance as he was mine the moment we met. You'd never have been able to bring the kind of passion out of him that I can every time I take him in my arms. Every time I have him beneath me in bed."

A snort. "Geez, Dolph, talk about antagonizing someone. Really? Is now the time to be engaging in a pissing contest?" he asked as beside them both Harry and Rabastan began to laugh.

"Why darling, what better time to make him realize that he could never fuck you into the mattress like I can."

Laughter. "Oh, GODS, isn't THAT the truth? If it was possible to die from pleasure alone, I'd have been dead the first night you had me."

"Double that for me, little brother. Rabastan could have me screaming for hours."

Several things happened at once. Riddle went for his laser, as at the exact same moment Ardyn reached to draw a knife he had hidden in his weapons belt, both men with such intense looks of hate on their faces. Roark lifted his arm, and somehow, much to his own surprise he found his laser in his hand as it seemed to fly from Rodolphus' belt. Ardyn threw his blade at the exact same moment that Roark stepped calmly in front of Rodolphus, firing his laser at Riddle.

Suddenly he was hit by a very sharp intense pain. He gasped, and the last thing he remembered was the feeling of Rodolphus' arms closing around him as he fell back against him. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was his lover's white, shocked face as he lowered them both to the stone floor. The last thing he heard, which seemed far away, were the screams of his name by his brother and the Durin's.

cccVccc

"I can't keep them out much longer, Ethan." came his brother's voice into his ear.

"Thanks, Rohan," he said, pressing blood covered hands down on the wound on Roark's chest. "Rodolphus, you have to GO. NOW."

He shook his head, his own blood covered hands pressing atop Ethan's, his dark horrified eyes on his lover's white face. "I can't leave him," he rasped, "not like this."

"Rodolphus, listen to me." Harry said as he knelt beside him, reaching out to lay a bloodied hand on his forearm. "We know who you are, what happened in here, but those warriors outside? They don't. They know only that you're the Terminator that was hired to kill Roark, that a Rabastan was hired to kill me. That," he pointed to the bloody knife, "is one of your knives, and the only proof they'll need to shoot first, and ask questions later. You're not going to be able to help him if you're dead, and Roark would never forgive me, forgive US if we didn't get you out of here."

He lifted his head, turned it to meet Harry's emerald green eyes, saw the fear, the anger. "I know, but-"

"No buts, Major," came the deep authoritative voice. "Get out of here. NOW."

"How can I leave him like this, Lt. Colonel? I love him."

"By trusting us," came Sebastien's answer as he dropped down beside his brother. "I'm ordering you out of here, Major. We'll take care of him."

"I'll be staying, Dolph. I'll look out for him, for BOTH of them. I swear it on our honor, brother. I will guard and protect Roark as I will Harry."

Rodolphus looked over at his younger brother, saw the determination in his sherry eyes, then he looked over at the man who was, even now cutting open Roark's uniform shirt to get to the wound. "Promise me? Promise you'll do whatever you have to save him?"

Sebastien took a moment to look up at him. "That is an easy promise to make, Rodolphus. You have my word. I'll take care of him. Robin and I will do everything in our power to keep him alive."

"They're not waiting a micron {second} longer, guys. They're coming in, orders or no."

"Go, Rodolphus!" Aiden ordered. "Get yourself to Caprica, and once there we'll get this mess sorted out."

Several doors crashed open at the same moment as Apollo and the warriors of the detachment ran in. In a micron, {second} Rodolphus was on his feet and disappearing into the surrounding crates and barrels.

cccVccc

He opened his eyes slowly, blinking several times to bring the room into focus. There was a soft light on in the room, and he also heard the steady beep, beep, beep of the life monitor at the head of the bed he lay in. He also became aware on an i.v. in the back of his right hand. A soft sound of paper rustling had him turning his head, blinking…

"Grandfather?"

His soft whisper had Adama's head snapping up from the file in his lap to see his grandson's silver, confused, drug clouded gaze on him. "ROARK!" he gasped. Closing the file and getting quickly to his feet. "Thank the Lords of Kobol you're awake," he said, dropping the file into his chair he moved to sit on the edge of his bed, reaching up to press a button on the headboard of the medical bed his grandson lay in.

"Where am I?"

"Caprican Military Life Center," he answered quietly. "You gave us quite a scare, young man."

"That's a rather mild way to put it, Adama."

Roark turned his head, then closed his eyes when the world decided to spin alarmingly fast, and his stomach rolled just as alarmingly. He felt a cool hand on his forehead, heard a drawer open, and when he opened his eyes a crack, he saw Robin push a needle into one of the i.v. ports and press the plunger.

"There. That should help to re-leave the dizziness and nausea. Try not to move too fast. You've been in a coma for a couple of sectons {week}. This is only the fourth time you've been awake and the first three we aren't going to count, as I'm not even sure you remember them," he said as he and Sebastien went about checking the readings on the beeping monitor. "Blood pressure's still a bit too low, Bastien."

"That's no surprise," he said as he checked the fluid of the hanging bags and the i.v. lines, "given he nearly lost his entire blood volume. You terrified us, Roark Christopher Potter," he scolded him tenderly, taking a seat across from Adama.

"Um…sorry? Harry?" he murmured, looking slowly at each of them as Robin pulled the sheet and light blanket that covered him down, making him shiver as the room was cooler than he liked. He looked down just as Robin pulled the bandage that covered the wound off and threw it into the trash. "I gather by the looks of that, it was bad?"

"Worse, I'm afraid," Robin answered, throwing an angry look at Adama. "We had absolutely no idea you were a bleeder, Roark."

"Bleeder?"

"It means your blood doesn't clot like it's supposed too. You nearly bled to death before we figured out why the bleeding wouldn't stop. It also didn't help that the same poison that was on the blades that killed Kale and Tristyn, and wounded Kili was on the blade we pulled from your chest."

He heard another drawer open and watched as Robin pulled out fresh bandaging as Sebastien gently spread an antibiotic cream over the stitched cut. "You've finally stabilized," Robin said as he spread a bandage over the red, healing wound, then tapping it in place, "But, as I said, your blood pressure is still a bit low, so we're going to keep you right where you are for right now. I'll let Harry and Rabastan know you've woken up."

"Harry and Rabastan? They're here?"

"Went to get something to eat. How do you feel otherwise, Rory?" Sebastien asked.

A sigh. "I've definitely felt better. How long have I been here?"

"Just over three sectons {weeks}."

Roark blinked. "Oh. Okay. Kody?"

"He was returned to his mother, and we saw to it he got another puppy."

Roark sighed deeply, his eyes slipping closed. "That's good." Then his eyes opened, and he frowned. "I think I remember…Was the Admiral, Commander Thorin and Dacian here?"

"The first time you woke up." Sebastien answered. "The second time, Robin and I were here, and the third was Raphael and Schyler. Harry and Rabastan have been here several times as well. We all answered some of the questions you had, but as Robin said, we're pretty sure you don't remember the answers."

"No, I guess I must not, so I'll ask again and maybe this time the answers will stick. Riddle? Ardyn? Bellatrix?" he looked at Robin, then Sebastien. "Rodolphus? You said Rabastan was here with Harry, but what about Rodolphus?"

"Riddle is dead. As is Ardyn and Bellatrix Lestrange. Rodolphus escaped during all the confusion, and hasn't been seen, or heard from yet."

Roark frowned. "But isn't he-" he broke off, looked over at his father.

"The Commander has been briefed that both Rodolphus and Rabastan were our informants."

"I'm still not completely sure I believe that, as it was one of his knives that was pulled from your chest, though Rabastan Lestrange has been answering questions in a closed inquiry for the last couple of sectons {weeks}."

"Thrown by Ardyn!" he snapped.

"Just how would Ardyn get ahold of one of that Terminators knives?"

"Well, now, that seems to be one of the questions we needed Ardyn to answer, but as he's dead I guess we won't ever know. And that Terminators name is Rodolphus!" he all but snarled, the monitor at the head of his bed beginning to beep faster, becoming louder. "He's-"

"Roark, that's enough." Sebastien said sternly. "Calm down right now, young man, or I'll sedate you."

"He was so much more than just our informant, and you damn well know it, Grandfather." Roark hissed at him.

"Actually, I don't know it. Your brother, Roark, Thorin, Dacian and Gabriel are being remarkably closed mouthed as to what exactly Rodolphus and Rabastan's full roll in this entire mess was."

"What?" his eyes jerked to Sebastien. "Why?"

"We aren't really sure right now, and until he comes in to report, I don't think we'll be getting any answers. Harry has received orders to not speak of anything he knows to anyone BUT Counter Intelligence."

"He hasn't come in to report yet? Why not?"

"Raphael and Schyler think he may be looking into something," Sebastien answered as he pulled open a drawer, prepared a syringe, then pushed the needle into the spot on his arm he had just prepared, smiling with a sort of satisfaction when Roark gave a flinch.

"But what could he possibly be looking into? I know he seemed to be a bit distant that day," he murmured, the sedative beginning to take effect. "It almost seemed like he was trying to pull away from me."

"His reaction when that knife hit you said something completely different. Hush now. You need to rest, Rory. Sleep now, worry later."

"I need to see him, Robin. I need to see Harry and Rabastan."

"You will," Robin said softly, his hand coming up to smooth his hair back. "Sleep now. Everything will get sorted out soon enough, I promise," he said, his eyes on the monitor, smiling as the read-out slowly returned too normal.

Sebastien sighed. "Thank Kobol. If his heartbeat had gone any higher…"

"Just what, exactly, is going on between that Terminator, and my grandson?"

Sebastien and Robin both turned on him with frowns. "That, Commander, is not something we're going to discuss with you."

"There is no discussion to be had Doctor-Major Sebastien, Doctor-Major Robin. I demand to know what exactly—

"You can demand all you want, Commander. We are not going to break his confidentiality by telling you something he doesn't want you to know right now."

"Sebastien, Robin, he-"

"Adama, it's not our place, nor is it anyone else's for that matter, to discuss your grandson's private lives. What you want to know, must come from them, and from them alone, unfortunately for you, the story is going to have to wait until they have been cleared to discuss it. You'll just have to be patient and wait, because he's certainly in no condition to discuss it, or anything else right now, and Harry is under gag orders and can't."

"You also need to keep in mind, Commander, your grandson so very nearly lost his life three sectons {weeks} ago. Press him when he's in this condition, you run the real risk of killing him. Leave it alone."

A deep sigh sounded. "Very well. What, exactly, is his condition right now?"

"He's stable, but critical. His blood pressure is still too low for our comfort, but his heart rate and respiration are good. That means his heart is finally pumping at the rate it's supposed to be, and his lung is beginning to heal. He's going to need a lot of quiet, and plenty of rest. No overexcitement, and certainly no discussions that are going to upset him."

"So, in other words, you're telling me not to discuss Rodolphus with him? To not even mention him."

"We're not telling you anything, as his Dr.'s we are ordering you. You are not to ask him about Rodolphus right now. Now, I think you should go home. Tell your wife and children that your youngest, ADOPTED grandson, is awake."

"So, it's a tradeoff, is it? I don't bring up Rodolphus, and you don't tell him he's adopted."

Sebastien scowled. "You should be ashamed of yourself for even asking that. NO, Adama, that's not what this is about. It is also not our place to tell Roark that he's adopted. That is for Harry, and for you to tell him. My soul concern is Roark's health, and right now is not the time to be agitating him."

"Very well, but I will be getting the answers I want, one way or another."

"Of course, you will. I'll be sure to warn Dad, Uncle Thorin, Dacian, Gabriel, and Raphael you'll be wanting to see them."

"You do that." Adama growled, turning and walking out of the room.

Sebastien looked over at his husband, who chuckled. "He has no idea what he's up against, does he?" Robin asked.

"He should. He's been best friends with my father since they were in the Academy together. But maybe he's forgotten. If he has, he's in for a surprise. Uncle Thorin is just as bad as dad is on a GOOD day. And the Gods know Dacian, Gabriel, and Raphael are just as bad as dad is, if not worse. He'll not be getting any answers from them anytime soon."

Robin glance down at his chronometer. "Well, Rory won't be waking for a couple of centars {hours}. Want to get some dinner?"

"Dinner sounds good. I'm starving."

"Then let's head down to the restaurant."

TO BE CONTINUED….


End file.
